NEW YORK - Everything one would expect was on tap at the American Bankers Association's convention here this week: sessions on trust-preferred securities, balance sheet management and profitability drivers, and speeches by banking regulators.
But the 2004 event has also had a lighter side, and an emphasis on the arts. A sing-along led by Peter Yarrow (of Peter, Paul and Mary fame) was followed by a session encouraging bankers to support taxpayer-funded art projects.
Both came courtesy of Oklahoma banker C. Kendric Fergeson, the ABA's chairman for the past year and a member of the board of directors of Americans for the Arts.
Mr. Fergeson's term as ABA chairman ended Tuesday - he was succeeded by SouthTrust Corp. executive vice president Betsy Duke - but ABA officials said they may well include arts-related sessions at future conventions. The response to this year's program was overwhelmingly positive, the officials added.
"They loved it," spokeswoman Charlotte Birch said.
Ms. Birch said Americans for the Arts "promised us a star" and initially hoped to bring another of its supporters, Paul Newman, she said. When it learned the actor was unavailable, the arts group scheduled Mr. Yarrow, whose music is synonymous with the protest movements of the 1960s.
Mr. Yarrow, who brought his guitar with him, got hundreds of bankers to sing to a tune about schoolyard bullies, "Don't Laugh at Me," which he recorded with Peter, Paul and Mary, and to "This Land Is Your Land."
"I want to hear your voices," he said when the audience began clapping along - but not singing - to "This Land Is Your Land." "When I tell you to clap, you can clap, but not before."
Mr. Yarrow said "Don't Laugh at Me" struck such a powerful chord when it was released that it inspired him to found Operation Respect, which works with schoolchildren to raise awareness about the damage caused by bullying.
"It's the best work I've ever done," he said.
Before he left, Mr. Yarrow appealed to bankers to support arts programs in their communities.
"If you want to be known as an industry that serves humankind, you must allow the heart to come forward and be expressed," he said.
The convention (which wraps up today) also featured a breakout session on taxpayer-funded arts programs. It was led by Jerry Allen, who oversees public arts programs for the City of San Jose, Calif.
San Jose is one of a growing number of jurisdictions that have passed "percent for the arts" programs requiring government-funded construction projects to include a public art component. Mr. Allen said bankers could play a major role in convincing other cities and states to enact similar legislation.
"One of the distinguishing characteristics of banks is that they only succeed to the extent their communities do, so they are influential players," Mr. Allen said.
Mr. Fergeson, who is also the chairman of the $135 million-asset NBanC in Altus, Okla., said his company has commissioned four paintings by local artists. He added that he spent several years lobbying for a recently passed law in Oklahoma that sets aside 1.5% of all government construction projects for public art projects.
Mr. Fergeson has also formed a group that has a goal of getting an art teacher and a music teacher in every Oklahoma grade school. In an interview with American Banker last year, he said it is shortsighted for school administrators to cut arts programs from school systems for budget reasons.
"Four years of art increases your SAT in math by 52 points, four years in art increases SAT in verbal by 47 points," he said. "It's just intuitive to me that arts are important in our schools."
