Sister Gertrude Morgan

b. 1900 in Lafayette, Louisiana. As a member of the Baptist church since birth, Gertrude spent 20 years of her life preaching, singing and even shouting the Gospel through her megaphone, throughout the streets of New Orleans. Shortly before her decision to devote her life to preaching full time, she founded an orphanage and had spent a number of years developing pieces of artwork inspired by her love for the scriptures. In 1980 she was called to go to a "better place" and died in her sleep, in New Orleans. In the 1970's, a few years before her death, recordings were made of her singing and playing the tambourine. The recordings, entitled "Let's Make A Record", were later used to generate new interest in Sister Gertrude Morgan when they were given the modern remix treatment by genre blending producer King Britt almost 30 years after they were first made. By 2005, renewed interest in her artwork also resurfaced. A New York Times art critic described her work as "painted epiphanies" that were "hugely endearing".