Art and Business Find Common Ground: Mercedes-Benz Financial Services Announces Annual Art Exhibition in Partnership with SMU and TCU

FORT WORTH, Texas, Nov. 6, 2014 /PRNewswire/-- Mercedes-Benz Financial Services USA LLC today announced the 2014-2015 installation of its sixth annual Experiencing Perspectives art exhibition, featuring artwork from the students, faculty and alumni of SMU in Dallas, and TCU in Fort Worth. The installation is the company's largest to date, and represents a partnership between art, education and business that remains the only one of its kind with the art schools of the well-respected North Texas universities. The exhibition was celebrated at the company's community art reception in its business center in Fort Worth on Wednesday evening, with several VIPs, including: Mary Beth Halprin, Director of Communications and Corporate Marketing, Mercedes-Benz Financial Services; Sally Packard, Director of the School of Art at TCU; and Noah Simblist, Chair and Associate Professor of Art at SMU's Meadows School of the Arts.

"Our unique partnership with SMU and TCU has enriched our work environment and enabled us to support emerging and established artists working and studying in the Dallas and Fort Worth communities for six years," said Peter Zieringer, President and CEO of Mercedes-Benz Financial Services. "As the program has grown, so has our ability to develop meaningful connections between business and the arts."

In addition to the art installations, the program offers employees interesting opportunities to engage in art tours, visual thinking discussions and community events. Art has also been used as a creative tool in the workplace, empowering employees to give visual meaning to key business themes and topics.

Another signature element of the company's partnership with SMU and TCU is an annual scholarship program awarding $5,000 annually to an art student at each university. The purpose of the scholarships is to recognize talented emerging artists in North Texas and to further recognize the students who are exhibiting their work in the Mercedes-Benz Financial Services facility. 

Mercedes-Benz Financial Services' Experiencing Perspectives art program includes several creative partnerships that bring rotating exhibitions of artwork into Mercedes-Benz Financial Services facilities in the U.S. and Canada. The program began in 2001, when the company partnered with the Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield Hills, Mich. In 2008, the program expanded to the company's Fort Worth, Business Center through partnerships with the art schools of SMU and TCU. In 2009, Experiencing Perspectives expanded to Mercedes-Benz Financial Services' Canadian headquarters in Mississauga, Ontario, through a partnership with OCAD University in Toronto, Ontario.

"Through our various community relationships, art has become part of our foundation that bridges community and workplace culture together," added Zieringer. "Some may wonder if it adds value in a business environment. I would say it absolutely has played a valuable role in expanding perspectives, inspiring creative thought and cultivating innovative ideas."

For more information about Mercedes-Benz Financial Services' Experiencing Perspectives art program and community art partnerships visit:

Website: www.mbfs-art.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mymbfs
Twitter: @MercedesBenzFS #mbfsART
Instagram: #mbfsART

About Mercedes-Benz Financial Services USA LLC  
Mercedes-Benz Financial Services USA LLC, headquartered in Farmington Hills, Mich., with Business Center Operations in Fort Worth, Texas, provides brand‐specific financial products and services for Mercedes-Benz and smart automotive dealers and their retail customers. In the U.S. trucking industry, it conducts business as Daimler Truck Financial and provides flexible financial products and services for Daimler Trucks North America commercial vehicles branded Freightliner, Western Star, Thomas-Built Bus and Mitsubishi Fuso Truck of America, Inc. Mercedes-Benz Financial Services USA LLC serves as the headquarters for operations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Argentina and Brazil, and has approximately 1,700 employees throughout the Americas. It is a company of the Daimler Financial Services Group, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, which does business in 40 countries and has an employee base of more than 8,000 people worldwide. Daimler Financial Services is one of the leading financial services organizations worldwide. For more information, please visit www.mbfs.com/corp or facebook.com/mymbfs.

SOURCE Mercedes-Benz Financial Services USA LLC