They Left Me Out Of The Picture So I Created My Own Chapter 12
When Professor Dunn pushed open the studio door, I was in the middle of checking scan files.
“Hold on a second.” He turned his computer screen toward me. “*Inside and Outside the Frame* has been selected for the Art on theMART public art project.”
For a second, the words didn’t register.
“Your series is going to be projected onto the exterior of the Merchandise Mart in Chicago.” He pointed to the next line. “And one physical piece will be displayed at Union Station for three months.”
Leo clamped a hand on my shoulder. “Avery, do you have any idea how many people pass through there every single day?”
My eyes stayed fixed on the words “Chicago Union Station.”
That was the station that connected my hometown of Naperville to the world beyond it. I had left through there. Now, my work was going back before I was.
The project team called soon after to confirm the promotional details.
“Hometown address?” the coordinator asked.
“Naperville, Illinois.”
I calmly gave them the address of the house I’d left. That family wasn’t going to hear the news from me, but Naperville was a small town. A publicly exhibited photograph would find its way to their door long before I ever would.
Two days later, the culture section of the *Chicago Tribune* ran a feature with a clear portrait of me next to the headline.
The article was reposted on Facebook, shared in my high school’s alumni group, and eventually seen by one of my father’s coworkers, who sent him a screenshot.
I didn’t know any of this at the time.
I was busy recalibrating color outputs and printing each image to the project’s exact specifications.
Until three days later.
Leo and I were discussing themes for our graduation exhibition when my phone rang.
The number on the screen was one that hadn’t called me in years.
My father.