These are some of the best-known characters on Sesame Street: Big Bird, Cookie Monster, Ernie and Bert, Grover, Prairie Dawn, Elmo, and Oscar the Grouch. Sesame Street was created out of the ideologies of the civil rights movement to educate children not just about the “the Three Rs,” but about kindness, compassion, and empathy for others, especially those who aren’t “just like you.” This message was truly brought home by the Muppets, who are the focus of this body of work.

I was the perfect age for the Muppets. I was born in 1966, and I remember watching Sesame Street when it first premiered on November 10, 1969, and being captivated. This continued throughout my childhood, even when I was older and more of an Electric Company age, when homesick and bored—and when I was ten, I fully matriculated to the Muppet Show when it came out in 1976. Instead of GI Joes and other gender-coded toys and action figures, I surrounded myself with puppets, enjoying playing with these more gender-fluid (and character-enhancing and enriching) avatars—that also engendered becoming an artist, creating cartoons, comics, and narrative art throughout my life.

I have also taught fine art and comics my whole professional life, both within the context of the all-too-rarefied world of fine art but also, inspired by Jim Henson and others, the narrative art that can transcend into and have a positive impact on the broader public. To paraphrase Joseph Campbell, an artist’s job is to tell stories for a culture to understand itself in order for it to progress, and the Muppets did this, both as part of Sesame Street’s mission, but also by enacting Henson’s desire to bring entertainment that translated his love for life and for others to the people.

Henson’s message, to “Please watch out for each other and love and forgive everybody—it’s a good life, enjoy it” is a sentiment that permeates all his work. I feel that the secret to making art in any realm is to be able to project one’s agency and feeling into your work, like a puppeteer. By thinking and emoting through your hand and brush or pencil to alchemize the elements and make a greater whole out of the parts, you can bring your work to life. I hope all these works do this to bring about the message of love and peace, which we need so much in these times.