Hey honeys and hustlers,

Today, I’m bringing you some words from Alyssa Cuffie, the writer behind The Durham Artist Archive newsletter. Seeing a fellow North Carolina transplant create and curate stories about people I’ve been honored to meet and others I’m excited to learn about is awesome. The article I’m sharing with you today is about the artist behind the infamous Sugar Shack painting, who happens to be from Durham, North Carolina. Small world! Sometimes, when I’m looking for inspiration, I think about who has inspired the people I’m currently inspired by. Just adding that one extra degree of separation opens you up to new worlds and works. I hope you all enjoy this one as much as I did.

The original article can be found here.

It is 2019. It is 11:30 pm, and I am in a dirty Logan Square bar with a stage. I am two-stepping in the dark to the funkiest band in Chicago at the time while sipping a well vodka cran and singing along to a setlist I’ve heard played multiple times before. I jokingly consider myself the sole groupie of a band my friend was in at the time, and THAT was my Sugar Shack. I don’t have a ton of pictures from those moments, and candidly, I didn’t look that hard because The Sugar Shack painting captures it perfectly.

Have you seen this before?

While it may be familiar, you probably don’t know its fascinating history, tying together characters like Franklin D. Roosevelt, Marvin Gaye, Eddie Murphy, and Ryan Coogler. In this essay, I will share a brief history of the artist, how this painting came to be, and show how it continues to inspire modern creatives today. Let’s get into it-

Ernie Barnes was born in 1938 and raised in Durham, North Carolina. When not sneaking into the Durham Armory to catch glimpses of the grown folks dancing, he could be found sketching in his journal or practicing for one of his high school sports. Ernie was a real-life Troy Bolton. He went to what’s now known as North Carolina Central University for art on a full athletic scholarship, kick-starting his professional football career. And while he played for a variety of American Football League teams, most interestingly, his final team, the New York Jets, hired him simply to paint. The owner of the team at the time, Sonny Werblin, told him, "You have more value to the country as an artist than as a football player.”

Years after his football retirement in 1965, Ernie Barnes would go on to paint the original The Sugar Shack. This is such an iconic painting, and it may have given you the Mandela effect by accident. Here’s why: There are TWO versions of this painting. Follow me closely here because different sites cite different stories, and I had to get to the bottom of it. 🕵🏾‍♀️

The first, painted in 1971, originally had four banners hanging from the ceiling. The original piece was loaned to Marvin Gaye, and he loved the painting so much that I imagine he said, “I need that.” So in that little space next to the WMPC banner, he added a banner promoting Marvin Gaye and his album so that it could be used for the cover of I want you.

The second was impressively almost an exact duplication of the original painting, MINUS the Marvin Gaye banner. According to the inscription on the painting, he was commissioned to recreate it and completed the painting in September 1976.

Here’s the tea about it- it seems like people didn’t know there were two? When the 1976 version sold for over 15 million dollars to Bill Perkins, that obviously sent waves through the art world. But soon after, Eddie Murphy smugly “outed himself” as the owner of the ORIGINAL piece. Paying a paltry 50 thousand dollars for it from Marvin Gaye’s estate in the 80s, compared to its current value. What’s really interesting about this is it seems that Bill Perkins and the 1976 paintings’ other previous owners have been generous enough to loan it to museums. It was recently on display at the Mint Museum in Charlotte through the end of June. But I just know Eddie Murphy’s 1971 version is proudly hanging in his home. Anyone got Eddie’s number? I just want to see his art collection. 😫

In the painting itself, there are so many fascinating small details. The building this takes place in? The Durham Armory- A New Deal era building that was originally the headquarters for the local National Guard. It would eventually become a venue housing events like the juke jam you see in the painting. An archivist from Preservation Durham shares:

Looking at the painting again, I think some of those people are lighter-toned. Namely, those in the top right corner. I’m curious if those people are supposed to be white or if he chose that color for other reasons. Either way, the painting’s relationship to this building was incredible to learn because it's still functioning as an event venue. I recently made a point to visit an artist market and I couldn’t help but reflect on to 100 years of history I was standing inside of. Ernie Barnes, too, had stood in that room, and it would inspire creatives for years to come.

Uptown Saturday Night was the debut album of the 90s hip hop group Camp Lo. Those of us born around the year it came out may not be familiar with the album by name, but we’ve definitely heard its influences across modern music by the way they fused hip hop, soul, and jazz. The album cover is cited as an homage to Marvin Gaye’s version of The Sugar Shack.

Sinners, my personal 2025 movie of the year so far had layer upon layer of meaning. Just search “Sinners” here on Substack and you’ll find dozens of essays attempting to peel them all back. But not only was the movie itself amazing, but as a marketer, the promotion was elite. They made a movie poster inspired by The Sugar Shack, and I felt the whole performance of I lied to you brought this painting to life as well.

Speaking of bringing paintings to life, Luke James does so literally with his music video for Make Love to Me. This one comes to me courtesy of Adjoa A.! It shows Luke James walking through the scene of the painting until he becomes one of the characters himself- the performer rocking the mic and commanding the dance floor. From the frozen dancers with their hands up to the banners in the air with one saying “I want you,” as a direct homage to Marvin Gaye, Luke and his team did an amazing job bringing this to life.

This summer, hype beast brand Supreme and Ernie Barnes’ estate collaborated on a clothing collection featuring The Sugar Shack. Interestingly, this is the first time his work has ever been officially licensed to be on clothing. Supreme is bringing this painting to a new generation, a people desperately in need of dance, according to Tyler, the Creator. And I hope it inspires someone to at least bust out the move the brother in the white top is doing. We know he’s feeling the beat in his soul.

These examples just scratch the surface of the cultural impact that The Sugar Shack has had. And seeing how it’s been reimagined across mediums takes me back to the memory I shared at the top of this essay.

Maybe you weren’t in Chicago dive bars grooving to undeniable bass lines. Maybe your Sugar Shack lives in a college friend’s basement, a queer club downtown, your auntie’s kitchen on a Sunday, or wherever people gather and sweat out the week beneath colored lights. What Ernie Barnes captured in his painting was a feeling of freedom through dance that has transcended generations. And that’s why The Sugar Shack still ripples through album covers, music videos, movie posters, and the stitched threads of streetwear today.

So here’s your invitation: Find your own Sugar Shack. Dance like your liberation depends on it. And when the lights come up, let the art of that moment live on; whether in a photo, a story, or the way your body still remembers the beat. Let it be sweet like sugar.