[HipLib]

There was once a bar in downtown Tuscaloosa that was no ordinary bar. The Chukker at 2121 Sixth Street had a very diverse crowd as far back as the 70's. There were bikers, businessmen, professionals, hippies, poets, bluecollar workers, college students, professors, gay people and even some drag queens all hanging out in the same place. Blacks and whites sat elbow to elbow at the bar, a rarity in the 70's especially in Alabama. In the 80's and 90's the bar became regionally famous for the musical acts that it attracted. The Indigo Girls, R.E.M., Sublime, Southern Culture on the Skids and Rev. Horton Heat were a few of the alternative rock bands that played. The owner during the 90's was into blues and jazz. Clarence Gatemouth Brown, Johnny Shines, R.L Burnside, Red Rodney and Sun Ra all had their time on the stage.
The place was also the premier hangout for Tuscaloosa's artists. Giant frescos were painted on the walls, original paintings were always on display but the painting that the bar was most famous for was a giant 16 panel take off of Michelangelo's Sistine Chapel painted on the ceiling.
This painting became known as the "Sistine Chukker". The Chukker closed in 2003. In 2007 the entire block where the Chukker stood was razed to make way for a park that will front a new federal courthouse complex. Unfortunately, all of the frescos went down with the rubble. The good news is that the Sistine Chukker was saved. It's now on display at the Downtown Trading Company, a cigar and wine shop on Greensboro Avenue downtown.[IMG]www.flickr.com/photos/47341438@N002372165275[/IMG]

[Southlander]

Link goes to "not found."