Catapult Creative House in downtown Cape Girardeau brimmed with people and art exhibits for the first of monthly First Friday with the Arts event available to new students.

Reproductive Media is a collection of zines, which are self-published texts and images (think: magazine), curated by artists Cayla Skillin-Brauchle and Danielle Wyckoff. The collection will be displayed at Catapult until Sept. 26.

The zines include a multitude of textiles sewn and arranged to represent human reproduction and its implications on the lives as artists, educators, students and citizens. Some pieces included infant clothing sewn together and large block letters tacked onto cropped tee-shirts.

Senior art student Ryan Nevill explained the importance of exhibitions like Reproductive Media.

“It's imperative that other people, regardless of major, get in here and see these pieces and what other artists are doing,” Nevill said.

The zines featured at Catapult range from personal experiences to statistics and facts. An explanation of the meaning of the gallery is displayed before the pieces, giving insight on how reproductive media influences everyone.

An artist statement posted beside the gallery read,“We believe that critical discussions require space.”

Nevill explained that art can be controversial, especially for those who can’t relate to the art. He cited that even though he wasn’t female, it was important for him to understand how media could be impactful. Nevill stated community gallery openings can be enlightening for some viewers, especially with community-wide events such as First Friday.

“We use a lot of controversial subjects in our pieces,” Nevill said. “It’s a way for us to show the community things that aren’t talked about very much.”

Nevill went on to explain the other gallery openings taking place in the near future. Catapult will house a digital media gallery, digital textiles gallery and a gallery produced by Nevill titled “Untold Stories.”

For more information on Catapult and the available galleries, visit https://catapultsemo.com/