{"meta":{"version":"2.1","_links":{"self":{"href":"https://api.vam.ac.uk/v2/object/O1773863"},"collection_page":{"href":"https://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O1773863/"}},"images":{"_primary_thumbnail":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2024NU4123/full/!100,100/0/default.jpg","_iiif_image":"https://framemark.vam.ac.uk/collections/2024NU4123/","_alt_iiif_image":[],"imageResolution":"low","_images_meta":[{"assetRef":"2024NU4123","copyright":"© Victoria and Albert Museum, London","sensitiveImage":false}]},"see_also":null},"record":{"systemNumber":"O1773863","accessionNumber":"W.23-2024","objectType":"Community Basket","titles":[{"title":"Community Basket","type":""}],"summaryDescription":"In 2020, American designer Stephen Burks designed the Community Basket for Berea College’s Crafting Diversity project. It is distributed by Design Within Reach (MillerKnoll). The capacious basket can be used in domestic settings, such as for storing throws or pillows.\r\n\r\nBerea College was the first interracial and coeducational college in the South of the United States. It has not charged students tuition since 1892, and only admits ‘low-income students of high promise’. Among its courses, the College teaches craft and has a Forest Outreach Centre, connecting teaching to the forest. After realising that their Student Craft programme could be more closely aligned with Berea College’s ‘Great Commitments’ (1962) towards diversity, community, co-education and sustainability, the college set up a working group which advised on the creation of the ‘Crafting Diversity’ initiative. It included the curator, historian and writer Glenn Adamson, and invited Stephen Burks as design consultant. \n\r\nStephen Burks is an industrial designer, product development consultant, and educator whose innovative approach to design synthesizes craft, community and industry. His socially engaged practice questions who benefits from, and participates in, contemporary design. He was selected by Berea College for his ‘ability to innovate with traditional crafts to create modern, and sometimes experimental, forms’. There, he worked with students in all four craft workshops: broomcraft, ceramics, textiles, and woodworking. They co-designed a collection of objects including the Community basket and tray, Pixel placemats, a table runner and pillows. Students were paid for their work.\n\r\nThe design of the Community Basket is inspired by Shaker boxes. It is handcrafted from sustainably harvested white oak selected for strength and fibre length which are neatly joined by recyclable aluminium links. Putting together the kit of parts taught Berea students basic woodworking and assembly skills. For this basket, Stephen Burks ‘wanted to build upon existing Appalachian traditions, but also Shaker traditions, which have a place in Appalachian history, while also thinking about materials that could be harvested from the college forest.’  \n\r\nCollaborating with MillerKnoll enabled scaling up the distribution of local, handmade, equitable products from the Crafting Diversity line. The company commits to ‘offering sourcing and production know-how, as well as funding for new equipment, to build the capabilities of the Student Craft workshop.’\r\n","physicalDescription":"Basket with handle handmade from bent white oak bands joined together with aluminum links and steel hardware.","artistMakerPerson":[{"name":{"text":"Stephen Burks","id":"AUTH361672"},"association":{"text":"designer","id":"x36960"},"note":""}],"artistMakerOrganisations":[{"name":{"text":"design within reach","id":"AUTH408938"},"association":{"text":"distributor","id":"x29579"},"note":""}],"artistMakerPeople":[],"materials":[{"text":"white oak","id":"AAT12331"},{"text":"aluminium","id":"AAT11015"},{"text":"steel","id":"AAT133751"}],"techniques":[{"text":"bending","id":"AAT53101"}],"materialsAndTechniques":"Bent white oak bands, aluminum links and steel hardware","categories":[{"text":"Household objects","id":"THES48939"}],"styles":[],"collectionCode":{"text":"FWK","id":"THES48597"},"images":["2024NU4123"],"imageResolution":"low","galleryLocations":[{"current":{"text":"FWK10","id":"THES49145"},"free":"","case":"","shelf":"","box":""}],"partTypes":[[{"text":"basket","id":"AAT194498"}]],"contentWarnings":[{"apprise":"","note":""}],"placesOfOrigin":[{"place":{"text":"Berea","id":"THES394281"},"association":{"text":"made","id":"x28654"},"note":"Berea College, Berea, Kentucky, USA"}],"productionDates":[{"date":{"text":"2020","earliest":"2020-01-01","latest":"2020-12-31"},"association":{"text":"","id":""},"note":""}],"associatedObjects":[],"creditLine":"Berea College Student Craft Design Stephen Burks","dimensions":[{"dimension":"Height","value":"27.94","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""},{"dimension":"Height","value":"49.85","unit":"cm","qualifier":"","date":{"text":"","earliest":null,"latest":null},"part":"","note":""}],"dimensionsNote":"","marksAndInscriptions":[],"objectHistory":"","historicalContext":"","briefDescription":"Community Basket, designed by Stephen Burks for the Berea College Student Craft programme, handmade by students, distributed by Design Within Reach  (MillerKnoll), 2020, oak and anodized  aluminium, USA.","bibliographicReferences":[],"production":"","productionType":{"text":"","id":""},"contentDescription":"","contentPlaces":[],"associatedPlaces":[],"contentPerson":[],"associatedPerson":[],"contentOrganisations":[],"associatedOrganisations":[],"contentPeople":[],"associatedPeople":[],"contentEvents":[],"associatedEvents":[],"contentOthers":[],"contentConcepts":[],"contentLiteraryRefs":[],"galleryLabels":[],"partNumbers":["W.23-2024"],"accessionNumberNum":"23","accessionNumberPrefix":"W","accessionYear":2024,"otherNumbers":[],"copyNumber":"","aspects":["WHOLE"],"assets":[],"recordModificationDate":"2025-11-17","recordCreationDate":"2024-03-07","availableToBook":false}}