Exploring Exeter’s papermaking history funded by the National Lottery Heritage Project

Mapping Print was a 2022 research project led by Double Elephant in order to find out more about the barriers, challenges and opportunities for printmakers in Devon and the South West.

Over the summer of 2023 our Botanical Print Summer School travelled around Exeter exploring a range of print processes at 26 nature-themed workshops.

ROUTES was partnership project between East Devon AONB and Double Elephant Print Workshop to explore new ways of creative nature connections with local communities.

An advent of PRINTspiration! We created daily printmaking tutorials for you to try at home… Our DIY print suggestions are suitable for all ages and abilities, using mostly recycled materials and no press needed!

On ongoing project since 2005, Print on Prescription was created for participants recovering from mental illness to access us indefinitely and become as close to being an independent Double Elephant member as they felt able to manage.

Our lockdown project brought together poets, historians, animators and printmakers to turn a 1000 year old riddle from the Exeter Book into an animated encounter that can be “played” by the reader.

For two years, Double Elephant Print Workshop worked with local youth groups and partner organisations to explore and remember Mary the Pigeon and Charlie Brewer’s vital role in wartime communications.

During 2013 Double Elephant initiated and led a series of contemporary artist bursary programmes.

In 2013, Double Elephant commissioned five contemporary artists, Katy Connor, Bryony Gillard, Mark Leahy, Volkhardt Müller and Clare Thornton, to create new work by exploring possible redefinitions of printmaking – to explore its role as the inspiration for new work and develop hybrid responses to printmaking.

Politics in Print was a collaboration between Double Elephant Print Workshop (DEPW) and Devon Record Office (DRO). Seven artists were commissioned to bring to life Devon’s political archives through the medium of printmaking. The twin aims of the project were to highlight the range and versatility of printmaking as well as explore some of the rich historical resources at DRO.

Double Elephant worked with Devon Record Office (now known as Devon Heritage Centre) to create a project using its archive of maps. We wanted to enable young people with little or no sight to find out more about the history of their locality as well as access printmaking as a new creative process.

Double Elephant worked with acute Dementia Sufferers and Eldery Patients with mental health issues at Franklyn Community Hospital, rural care homes and centres. Working with these very challenging illnesses was a step in a new direction for DEPW. The aim was to improve social interaction, memory, mobility, engagement and enjoyment, as well as to create artwork for each venue.

The Sunflower Recovery Project was a collaboration between Trevi House, a rehabilitation programme for women with drug and alcohol dependency issues together with their children, and Longreach House, which provides an all-female environment for women who struggle with substance misuse.

The Observatory: perspectives on landscape, society and spirit, was an exhibition on display at the University of Exeter between 11 – 18 June, 2017. Inviting Southwest artists to respond to key research themes at the University, the exhibition showcased selected works from those submitted and included work by Double Elephant artists Simon Ripley and Lynn Bailey.

Starting in the spring of 2016, Double Elephant’s Simon Ripley and associate artist, Joshua Gaunt, were commissioned to collaborate on Torbay’s “Just Ask” campaign, which seeks to tackle the stigma around male depression and suicide.