In 1885, with other art club members, Bannister helped found the "Anne Eliza Club" (or "A&E Club")—a communal men's discussion group whose members shared art and literature. Through his teaching there and at the Providence Art Club, he became a mentor to younger Providence artists, like Charles Walter Stetson. Stetson often mentioned Bannister in his personal diaries and once praised Bannister by writing, "He is my only confidant in Art matters & I am his." Rhode Island engineer George Henry Corliss commissioned a painting from Bannister in 1886, as his reputation grew.