In 2013, Michael Bennett was a star defensive end for the Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks. In 2024, he debuted We Gotta Get Back to the Crib, his inaugural collection of sculptural furniture.

The three-time pro-bowl player, who retired in 2020, is an author, sculptor, and podcaster. He founded his studio (Studio Ker), funded a scholarship for black designers at the Rochester School of Art and Design, and held his first exhibition of sculptural furniture work from January 11 to February 10. The show is hosted by Chicago-based artist and social innovator Theaster Gates’ Rebuild Foundation, Monastery Foundation, and Dorchester Industries. 

According to a description of the showcase, the work "reimagines forms such as the Dining Table, the Church Pew, and the Monobloc Chair, all of which reflect the physical tenets of communal gathering that shaped Bennett’s upbringing and the stories of larger cultural experience they express."

Also in the collection is the Mo-Mo Table, a circular dining table inspired by Akili Ron Anderson’s bas-relief frieze Last Supper (1982), the Pew Couch continues this exploration, extending the ethos of the church pew—informed by the close proximity of Black bodies in sacred space—into the domestic setting, encouraging closer connection. This work, fabricated in leather and ekki wood, references the forms of both interior and exterior environments, reflecting the masses and patterning of geological formations while integrating the uniformity of the prototypical pew with the soft plasticity of traditional sofas—a distinct example of the balance between place, vernacular, and community that Bennett’s work considers.

Gumbo Lounge Chair culminates the above discussion in the two-fold nature of its design. Inspired by the ubiquity, democracy, and versatility of D.C. Simpson’s white stacking polypropylene Monobloc Chair (1946), this sinuous fiberglass lounging chair and corresponding cushion ultimately makes two propositions for seating: first, the chair itself—a familiar form that extends its generosity in scale through its rendering from humanist parabolic curves; and second, an anthropomorphic cushion laid either over the seat or on the floor in the universal tradition. In both variations, the work’s composition emphasizes connection in Black gathering spaces of fellowship, intimacy, and celebration, reflecting Bennett’s overarching dedication to new configurations of African-diasporic design in pursuit of the dialogue, utility, and generosity that defines exceptional narrative design.