Cranbrook Academy of Art Honors Juergen Walker, Chairman of the Board of Management for DaimlerChrysler Financial Services AG Wi
04 Octobre 2006 - 10:26PM
PR Newswire (US)
BLOOMFIELD HILLS, Mich., Oct. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- On
Tuesday, October 3, Cranbrook Academy of Art honored Juergen H.
Walker, Chairman of the Board of Management of DaimlerChrysler
Financial Services AG, with the 8th annual Creative Patronage
Award. Mr. Walker was recognized for his ongoing support of
contemporary art, design and architecture. The Creative Patronage
Award Dinner was held in Cranbrook's historic dining hall designed
by Eliel and Eero Saarinen. Cranbrook welcomed more than 150
distinguished guests to the event. "I truly believe that the
relationship our company has with Cranbrook Academy of Art is
unique," said Juergen H. Walker, during the award ceremonies. "It
places cutting edge art in the world of business." The Creative
Patronage Award was established in 1999 by the Cranbrook Academy of
Art Board of Governors. The award was inspired by Cranbrook
founders George and Ellen Booth, whose belief in the power of art,
design and architecture was reflected in the talented artists and
designers who created Cranbrook's campus and who study and practice
at the Academy today. This award recognizes the necessity and
importance of artists, in addition to the financial support of
patrons, toward the betterment of the world. "Through Juergen
Walker's personal support of contemporary art, design and
architecture and through his leadership of DaimlerChrysler
Financial Services, he embodies the ideals of Cranbrook's founders
that we seek to recognize," said Gary Wasserman, Vice-Chair of the
Cranbrook Academy of Art and Art Museum Board of Governors. "Like
George and Ellen Booth -- the founders of Cranbrook Educational
Community -- Juergen Walker, is committed to excellence and to
creating opportunities internationally for artists, designers and
architects to inspire and influence our daily lives and our
future." Recipients of past Creative Patronage Awards distinguished
themselves through their support of education and the work of
artists and designers. Walker is no exception. Through his
leadership of DaimlerChrysler Financial Services, which celebrates
creativity and promotes contemporary art in the workplace, Walker
offers the world a visionary model of philanthropy in support of
art and artists in our community. At DaimlerChrysler Financial
Services, Walker has instituted several programs that generously
mesh the contemporary art collection of the company with the work
of emerging Cranbrook Academy artists, creating extraordinary
opportunities for artists and their audiences to learn from one
another. One such initiative, the Emerging Artist Award, offers an
extended residency program in Berlin for a graduating student of
the Academy. The residency concludes with a public exhibition of
work by the Emerging Artist Award recipient and the nine finalists
at the DaimlerChrysler Financial Services headquarters at
Pottsdamer Platz in Berlin. Walker's inspired advocacy of Cranbrook
Academy of Art also has resulted in a year-long exhibition of work
by Academy students in the Farmington Hills, Michigan headquarters
of DaimlerChrysler Financial Services Americas. An important
element of this program is the participation of DCFSA employees who
visit the Academy's studios, talk with the artists and select the
artworks for exhibition. Beginning this year, some of the Academy
students' work selected by DCFSA employees is being exhibited in
other venues in the greater Detroit area. Past recipients of the
Cranbrook Academy of Art Governors' Creative Patronage Awards
include Adele and Donald Hall, 1999; Xenia and J. Irwin Miller,
2000; Cindy Pritzker, 2001; Lord Peter Palumbo, 2002; Lloyd Cotsen,
2003; and Agnes Gund, 2004. About Cranbrook Academy of Art Founded
in 1932, Cranbrook Academy of Art is recognized worldwide as a
preeminent graduate level school of art, design and architecture.
This independent graduate degree-granting institution offers an
intense studio- based experience where artists-in-residence mentor
students in art, design and architecture to creatively influence
contemporary culture. The Academy awards Master's of Fine Arts
degrees in nine disciplines including 2D Design, 3D Design,
Ceramics, Fiber, Metalsmithing, Painting, Photography, Printmaking
and Sculpture, and a Master's of Architecture degree. The Academy
and its sister institution, Cranbrook Art Museum, also offer
exhibitions, public lectures and educational programs on
contemporary art and culture. The Academy and Museum are part of
Cranbrook Educational Community, an internationally renowned
educational community dedicated to excellence in the arts,
education and science. Cranbrook is located at 39221 Woodward
Avenue in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, and also includes an
Institute of Science, the Cranbrook Schools and other affiliated
cultural and educational programs. About DaimlerChrysler Financial
Services DaimlerChrysler Financial Services is internationally and
strategically positioned as the third largest captive financial
services provider in the world. The company provides customized
financial services that promote the sales of vehicles from the
DaimlerChrysler Group. On the strength of its comprehensive range
of leasing, financing, insurance and fleet management services, the
division manages a contract volume of approximately 118 billion
euros. The company finances or leases over one third of all the
vehicles produced by DaimlerChrysler. Headquartered in Berlin,
DaimlerChrysler Financial Services has more than 11,000 employees
working in vehicle financing subsidiaries in 39 countries.
DATASOURCE: DaimlerChrysler Financial Services CONTACT: Felicia E.
Molnar of Cranbrook, +1-248-645-3329; or Jack Ferry of
DaimlerChrysler Financial Services, +1-248-427-3124 Web site:
http://www.daimlerchryslerfinancialservices.com/na
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