Condom Art Contest: Congratulations to the Winners

Artists Jimmy Dinh, Bernardo Estrada, Zizi Hawthorne, Michelle Li, Jay Li, and Hayley Pelz, won the 2004 California Family Health Council Condom Art Project award for best condom cover design. Each of the six winners was awarded a $500.00 prize. The art contest is held every two years to educate about condom use and raise awareness about chlamydia and other sexually transmitted diseases (STDs).

Margie Fites Seigle, the executive director of CFHC, announced the six winners at a press conference near downtown Los Angeles. She praised the participants and thanked them for "lending their artistic talents to help make teens aware of the risks posed by sexually transmitted infections and in particular, chlamydia." Using latex condoms can help lower the chances of being infected and can prevent the serious health problems caused by chlamydia and other STDs.

Chlamydia is the most common bacterial STD in the United States. According to the CDC, young people age 15 to 19 make up 40% of all reported chlamydia cases. People can have it without knowing it. Most people go symptom-less for long periods of time. If left untreated, chlamydia can cause pelvic inflammatory disease (PID) and even sterility. Fortunately, there is a simple and easy test for chlamydia and it can be cured with antibiotics. All sexually active women 25 years and younger should be screened for chlamydia every year.

The contest was open to youth 25 years and younger and called for the submission of educational condom cover designs. The winning designs chosen by teen judges were printed on 200,000 condom packets and are being distributed throughout California.

Twenty-one-year-old Jimmy Dinh volunteers at the Asian Pacific AIDS Intervention Team. He created a design featuring a young Asian man and the words knowledge, confidence and respect as keys to understanding safer sex. When asked about his design, Dinh said, "I love people, so of course, my subject is a person." Dinh used live models to create his original sketches in pencil and then scanned them onto a computer. He achieved crisp lines and added flat color to the final image by using a digital pen on an electronic tablet.

Second-time winner, 20-year-old Bernardo Estrada, is an outreach-educator at the LA Free Clinic who also volunteers at the Hollywood Teen Community Project. His submission features a flowing, graffiti-art inspired condom and a title with two meanings that reads, "Test yourself." The phrase encourages youth to get tested for STDS and gives them a message about expressing the desire to stay healthy.

Zizi Hawthorne, 22, who traveled to Los Angeles from Berkeley to attend the event, works with homeless youth along Telegraph Avenue and at two drop-in centers. Hawthorne created a watercolor of an angel condom taking flight that is reminiscent of the bold red and orange winged heart tattooed on her left arm. She described the suffering STDs cause, and pointed out that "I don't feel like there's anything better than prevention. Being a counselor, I see so many people go through the diseases and the guilt." She confirmed her commitment by adding, "I plan to go to nursing school and after that, I still want to work with youth living on the streets."

Michelle Li, 16, was delighted when she was told that she and her brother Jay Li had each won a prize. She created an illustration of a turtle by using marker and highlighter to raise awareness around the importance of taking sexuality slow. Li views"Taking it slow" as a value that could help youth avoid pregnancy or a sexual disease.

Hayley Pelz, 25, says she hopes her artwork reminds youth about the things that make people happy to be alive like surfing and feeling the warmth of the sun at the beach. Pelz worked on five separate designs for close to a month before deciding on a geometrical bright blue ocean wave rising against a contrasting orange background. Pelz' message to her peers is, "Communication is beautiful. Smiling is universal. Catch waves not STDs."

"Outreach and education are crucial to give people a sense of control over their own bodies," said Infertility Prevention Program Manager Norma Casas. "And this art contest is a creative way to get the word out about important health messages."