My Favorite piece of art is The Sugar Shack by the artist Ernie Barnes, a painting that depicts a lively club full of black people joyfully dancing and playing music painted in a neo-mannerist style. From a technical perspective, I love the club-goers exaggerated forms and positions—they help the viewer follow the piece's movement and show the sensual and passionate feeling that Barnes was trying to portray. The colors in the painting are beautiful as well; the clothes that the clubbers wear are bright, bold, primary colors that contrast well with the warm and rich brown tones used for their skin. From a personal perspective, this piece holds a lot of cultural significance for the black community. The painting represents black people coming together to enjoy themselves and shake off whatever struggles they faced that week, I believe that this is a strong representation of who we are as a community. Additionally, this painting was painted in the ’70s, a time full of racial tension and protest—a time when a picture depicting the joy beyond the struggle was desperately needed. The Sugar Shack was also used in the closing credits of the ’70s television comedy Good Times. The show’s whole premise was smiling throughout the bad and it is regarded as one of the first prime-time television comedies to deal with black issues realistically. In closing, The Sugar Shack's bold use of color and movement paired with its significance to the black community makes it my favorite piece of art.