From Sir Peter Blake’s painting of the legendary heavyweight boxing champion Joe Louis to Douglas Gordon and Phillipe Parreno’s film Zidane: A 21st Century Portrait, sport has provided plenty of inspiration for artists over the years.

Orleans House Gallery is getting in the on the act with its new exhibition, The Art of Sport, which runs at the Twickenham gallery until September 27.

The multi-faceted exhibition features submitted works by established artists and historical items lent by the World Rugby Museum, Hampton and Richmond and Borough FC, and other local sports organisations alongside artwork created by young people as part of the Get Set Go! project.

Nathalie Palin, one of the 12 professional artists who facilitated Get Set Go!, helped 120 participants create works for the exhibition, including collaborative paintings inspired by kite flying, a video installation based on gymnastics, and a series of “target paintings” that brought art and archery together.

“For the archery project, I worked with 14- to 15-year-olds,” she says.

“It was mainly boys in the group and a lot of them might have thought they were not into art, but archery seemed like a popular idea even though we weren’t sure how we would make artwork out of it.”

The group came up with paintings in acryllic inspired by archery and then, after some lessons with a bow and arrow, enhanced their efforts in the grounds of Orleans House by firing arrows at paint-filled balloons hanging in front of the canvases.

“As with many of the projects, it was about giving them a direct experience related to what they went on to make,” says Palin.

“When we did the archery at Orleans House I said, ‘Please don’t shoot anyone’s dog!’. It wasn’t just bang bang bang though. The power of the arrow could move the balloon out of the way and they had to go through a bit of a pain barrier.”

Palin and her fellow facilitators worked hard to ensure the Get Set Go! art sits comfortably alongside the sporting mementoes and submitted art that also make up the exhibition, with one of the best examples being the made-to-order wallpaper, created by artist Ben Barbour and a group of dedicated youngsters. The wallpaper accompanies a display of tennis racquets and other memorabilia donated by Wimbledon Lawn Tennis Club.

“We had a general idea how the whole of exhibition would link together but you are never quite sure until the end,” adds Palin.

“We thought the tennis area might look a bit blank. Ben and his group were given a brief to work to, which was to create some tennis- and swimming-themed wallpaper, and they seemed to really enjoy doing it.”

The Art of Sport, Orleans House, Riverside, until September 27, free, Tuesday to Saturday, 1pm to 5.30pm, Sunday 2pm to 5.30pm, visit richmond.gov.uk/arts

As part of the cultural Olympiad celebration, a number of performances relating to the exhibition will be taking place at Orleans House Gallery on Sunday, July 26.