DETROIT -- A slender, fashionable, young woman sporting a pixie haircut stands next to five marionettes, cut from tar paper in silhouette style, hanging on a wall at the suburban Detroit offices of Mercedes-Benz Financial Services.
The woman is artist Ivy Johnson. She's there to discuss her stringed creations with the captive finance company's employees. "Most want to know: What was my inspiration?" Johnson says. (Hint: She calls the grouping Imaginary Friends.)
It might seem like a bizarre scene at a company that provides auto loans and insurance products. But at Mercedes-Benz Financial, it's just another day at the office.
"The art program is somewhat unique," said Peter Zieringer, CEO of Mercedes-Benz Financial Services' Americas region. "Through art, we maintain and inspire creativity and engage in a dialogue that puts another point of view on the table. This is something I value a lot."