ArtPort Kingston has invited artists, designers, makers, and thinkers to submit flag designs for our new Flagpole Project. Launched in Spring 2025, the Project has been raising one original artist-made flag per month above ArtYard Kingston at 80 Smith Ave throughout 2025. Each new flag, raised in a communal ceremony, offers an opportunity to rethink the meaning and role of flags in contemporary society.

A flag is a powerful symbol–a human invention that serves both as a form of communication and a symbol of beauty, devotion, and reverence. As symbols of both unity and division, oneness and diversity, flags can evoke strong emotions, rally communities, and communicate ideas across vast distances. Historically, flags have represented nations, ideologies, and movements, but what do they mean to us now? How has their significance evolved? How might it continue to evolve over time? 

Run as an open-call, the program seeks designs and flag-like artworks that explore the potential of the flag as a means of communication at this present moment. Applicants were asked to respond to a number of prompts, including: How can the format be reinvented as a tool for connection rather than division? How can a flag transcend traditional symbols of territory, ownership, and conflict? Can a flag be used to unify diverse ideas, communities, and cultures? 

Stay tuned for the next opening of the Flagpole Project with an original flag design by invisiblehand press (@invisible_hand), and will be followed by the hoisting of a new flag per month throughout the year. Invisiblehand Press makes prints, books, and objects for ritual and ceremony. This spell, the second in an infinite series, was printed on paper with a vandercook 219 and wood type, by Lilah Friedland and Polina Malikin in 2024. 

Follow @artportkingston on IG for more updates, and look out for future open-call opportunities to submit your flag design.