Art students displaying their work at Daimler Financial facility at Alliance

Accelerate/Decelerate by Roma Misra. She received her MFA in painting from TCU in 2008.

Fort Worth, TX

10/27/2008

Daimler Financial Services and the art departments of TCU in Fort Worth and SMU in Dallas are collaborating to create an ongoing, annual exhibition series called “Experiencing Perspectives.”

The exhibition is displayed in the company’s newest location in Fort Worth. This contemporary, 164,000 square-foot facility, with capacity for 800 employees, is the newest addition to the Alliance, Texas commercial development along Interstate I-35W. 

This exhibition celebrates the company’s launch of a newly formed partnership with the renowned art schools of TCU and SMU. It is the first and only initiative of its kind, one that joins established and up-and-coming artists from both Fort Worth and Dallas in a non-traditional exhibition approach. The exhibition features the work of students, faculty and graduates of these two highly-acclaimed fine art programs.

“Students typically think about exhibiting their work in a gallery, which I think of as a neutral site,” said Jay Sullivan, Chair, Division of Art at SMU. “But now with this relationship, they will get feedback on their work from a wide-ranging audience. They will think about the presentation and meaning of their work more personally.”

Since the new facility opened in September, the installation of more than 80 pieces of art representing over 40 artists is now being experienced by approximately 550 employees as well as numerous visitors on a daily basis.

Daimler Financial Services has a similar partnership with Cranbrook Academy of Art in Metro Detroit where graduate students’ art has been displayed for the past seven years on a 12-month rotating basis in the company’s headquarters in Farmington Hills, Mich.  

Klaus Entenmann, president and CEO of Daimler Financial Services in the Americas, said employees are excited by the creative experience in their new environment.

“We have the opportunity to fill our work space with cutting-edge, contemporary visual art,” Entenmann said. “In bringing this art to our employees, it represents our commitment to a creative approach to our business and to serving our dealers and our customers.”

As part of its Grand Opening celebration, Daimler Financial Services will formally open “Experiencing Perspectives” on the evening of October 28. At this event, executives will host the artists and other special guests who will experience the art in the new facility.

Ron Watson, chair, Department of Art & Art History at TCU, said this is an important benefit to art students in learning what it takes to place work in a corporate environment. “We are gratified that the company has an enlightened outlook,” he said. “This is a terrific step forward for our students, because their work will be exhibited in a public environment. It’s a perfect union for us.”