Let’s Make a Record

Sister Gertrude Morgan, Let's Make a Record, 1971, tempera, acrylic, pencil, and ink on paperboard (album cover) vinyl (record), Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak, 1981.136.5A-B
Sister Gertrude Morgan, Let's Make a Record, 1971, tempera, acrylic, pencil, and ink on paperboard (album cover) vinyl (record), Album cover: 12 3⁄8 x 12 1⁄2 in. (31.4 x 31.8 cm) Record: 11 7⁄8 in. (30.2 cm) diam., Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak, 1981.136.5A-B

Artwork Details

Title
Let’s Make a Record
Artist
Date
1971
Location
Not on view
Dimensions
Album cover: 12 3⁄8 x 12 1⁄2 in. (31.4 x 31.8 cm) Record: 11 7⁄8 in. (30.2 cm) diam.
Credit Line
Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak
Mediums
Mediums Description
tempera, acrylic, pencil, and ink on paperboard (album cover) vinyl (record)
Classifications
Subjects
  • Figure group
  • Performing arts — music — voice
  • Object — written matter
  • Religion — angel
Object Number
1981.136.5A-B
Linked Open Data
https://edan.si.edu/saam/id/object/1981.136.5A-B

Artwork Description

Around the time Sister Gertrude Morgan made this record album, she remarked "You can hear my singing all over the neighborhood!" Morgan was equal parts musician, painter, poet, and evangelist. She saw creative expression as a powerful means of communicating her faith, spreading the Word of God, and energizing her own sanctified journey.

In Let's Make a Record, Morgan's title plays with the flexible meaning of "record," both an action and a result. With help from her advocate and gallerist E. Lorenz Borenstein, she recorded gospel hymns and original compositions that conveyed her spiritual joy in a lasting, effective, and far-reaching way. Onto album covers printed with track titles and "True Believer Records," Morgan hand-painted herself, her brethren, and biblical passages. Although Morgan's expressively scrawled words are sometimes hard to make out, her passion and personalized style always ring clear.

Works by this artist (162 items)

View all artworks
Mingering Mike, ATLANTIC: SIMPLY DYNAMIC THE BIG DYNAMIC "D" (A), 1970, ink and marker on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mike Wilkins and Sheila Duignan and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2013.8.70.1, © Mingering Mike
ATLANTIC: SIMPLY DYNAMIC THE BIG DYNAMIC ​“D” (A)
Artist
Date1970
ink and marker on paperboard
Not on view
Mingering Mike, A MINGER PRODUCTION: DON'T TRY AND TA TAKE IT ALL IN / SHE LOOKED INTO MY EYES, 1970, mixed media on paper and found 45 rpm acetate record, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mike Wilkins and Sheila Duignan and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2013.8.6R-V, © Mingering Mike
A MINGER PRODUCTION: DON’T TRY AND TA TAKE IT ALL IN / SHE…
Artist
Date1970
mixed media on paper and found 45 rpm acetate record
Not on view
Mingering Mike, "YOU KNOW ONLY WHAT THEY TELL YOU" MINGERING MIKE / "YOU KNOW ONLY WHAT THEY TELL YOU" MINGERING MIKE, ca. 1973, mixed media on paperboard, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mike Wilkins and Sheila Duignan and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2013.8.58.3R-V, © Mingering Mike
“YOU KNOW ONLY WHAT THEY TELL YOU” MINGERING MIKE / ​“YOU…
Artist
Dateca. 1973
mixed media on paperboard
Not on view
Mingering Mike, MERCY: "DIG IT" / WELL SHE LOVE'S ME, MINGERING MIKE & HIS FRACTURED SOUL BAND, ca. 1972 - 1975, ink and marker on paper, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mike Wilkins and Sheila Duignan and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 2013.8.85.2, © Mingering Mike
MERCY: ​“DIG IT” / WELL SHE LOVE’S ME, MINGERING MIKE & HIS…
Artist
Dateca. 1972 - 1975
ink and marker on paper
Not on view

More Artworks from the Collection

Browse All Artworks
Anthony de Francisci, Alfred P. Sloan, ca. 1950-1960, gilded white metal, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Gilda Slate, 1966.110.37
Alfred P. Sloan
Artist
Dateca. 1950-1960
gilded white metal
Not on view
Anthony de Francisci, Adolph Alexander Weinman, 1915, cast and silver plated white metal relief, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Mrs. Anthony de Francisci, 1966.51.59
Adolph Alexander Weinman
Artist
Date1915
cast and silver plated white metal relief
Not on view
Herbert Singleton, He Be the One, 1991, carved and painted wood and metal, Smithsonian American Art Museum, Gift of Chuck and Jan Rosenak and museum purchase through the Luisita L. and Franz H. Denghausen Endowment, 1997.124.86
He Be the One
Artist
Date1991
carved and painted wood and metal
Not on view