The Sexhibition art show, featuring student artwork made of condoms, will be on display in the SURC Pit on Feb. 24 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Sexhibition is a part of Central’s annual “Sex Central.”

It is an open gallery in which students can present their condom artwork for all to see. This will be the second year the event is held at Central.

“[Sexhibition is meant] to promote awareness around sexual health, the use of condoms, and [to] promote a positive sexuality,” Erin Reeh, a senior peer health educator, said.

Reeh said the art show is a way for students who are participating in the event to have peers view their work and have them understand how other people view sexual health.

“Each different art piece has a different sexual message,” Reeh said. “Whether it be related to STI, sexual empowerment [or] sexual health, they all have their own way of interpreting the overarching goal of it.”

According to Doug Fulp, health educator for the Wellness Center, the art show is also meant to be about hearing the student body’s voice.

“With all the students being the artists, it’s to identify what that message means to them,” Fulp said.

Other students will be critiquing the artists’ pieces and will be judging them based off of different criteria.

“We’re hoping to have more [art] pieces and gain accurate knowledge of sexual health,” said Haley Furstenwerth, a public health senior and peer health educator at the Wellness Center.

Reeh said the use of condoms in the art show is to promote the use of them, because the center’s data has shown that a lot of students do not always use condoms while being sexually active. It serves to let people know that there are condoms available, and that they are the best way to stay safe when choosing to be sexually active.

Reeh said she hopes that through the Sexhibition art show, students will feel less awkward talking about condoms or contraception.

The Wellness Center also does the Love Glove Club right outside of its office, and last year they had around 650 students utilize the club. They expect more of a turnout with the club this year.

“We still see students who come in for the first time, and they’re nervous and they’re afraid of saying the word ‘condom,’” Fulp said. “We’re not embarrassed. We give them out all day every day, so for us it’s open but we want students to feel more comfortable in coming to us and to be able to ask those questions.”

It was also revealed through a college health assessment of the school that only 50 percent of sexually active Central students used condoms the last time that they had been sexually active, according to Fulp.

February is Sexual Responsibility month with the Wellness Center, Reeh said. Getting students to talk more openly about sexual health is what the different events occurring during this time are trying to promote.

“We want to help increase the conversations that are going on,” Fulp said. “We know that the idea of creating these pieces of art work doesn’t really appeal to every single student, but the idea is we want to help create the conversations going on around campus-to talk about it. We want to di-stigmatize the word ‘condom.’”