Celebrate democracy by doodling with Mo Willems

It’s been a stressful and anxiety-inducing election season for many people, and today is Election Day.

If you need a break from continuous coverage of predictions, tallies and speeches, Mo Willems is here for you.

The writer, animator, voice actor, creator of children’s books and Kennedy Center education artist in residence will be on the center’s website election night with Democracy Doodle 2020. You can join the fun here at 7 p.m.

The Kennedy Center encourages everyone to “find some paper, markers, and loved ones” for a series of three doodle exercises, each accompanied by performances by members of the National Symphony Orchestra.

In a democracy, Willems told NPR, “voting is a lot like doodling. It’s a form of self-expression, and you discover sort of who you really are as you do it.”

Willems told NPR he’s prepared three “really simple exercises for us all to do together and to share while we listen to this music being performed.” The NSO musicians — Mahoko Eguchi (viola), Abel Pereira (horn) and Jamie Roberts (oboe) — will each perform “music to doodle to.”

As education artist in residence at the Kennedy Center, Willems hosts several doodle projects, including Lunch Doodles and the Small Works Project.

Willems began his career as a writer and animator on “Sesame Street,” where he won six Emmy Awards.

Since then, he has been awarded the American Library Association’s Caldecott Honor three times for his picture book illustrations. Additionally, he is the recipient of two Theodor Geisel Medals and five Geisel Honors for his Elephant & Piggie early readers.