Having separate spaces and then a space for the bride and groom at the end of the wedding ceremony itself was one of them.“I like the way you think,” she said.“I take it you’ve worked with more Orthodox weddings before?”
Parker-Roth shrugged.“I wanted to be prepared.I assume this is for the wedding Samuel is making the ketubah for and Isaac is making the chuppah poles for?”
Naomi nodded.Having it theoretically confirmed that the Jewish art world she was working with was small was one thing; having it actually confirmed right in front of her was another.“Yes.Exactly.There’s…”
“Wait,” Parker-Roth interjected as Naomi was about to talk about the people who’d signed contracts already.“You were Ida’s pride and joy?”
Which was the first time she’d heard herself referred to like that.“I don’t know about that,” she said.“But I did work for Ida…before.”
“She left town because she’s an absolute piece of garbage.”Parker-Roth shook his head and Naomi felt Jason’s arm around her shoulders, the conversation and its focus careening out of control.“Anybody who worked anywhere in her vicinity knew she was trash.”
“And,” Jason continued out of almost nowhere, “that Ida’s business only continued because Naomi was loyal.”
Which was yet another point that she wasn’t used to digesting.
“Well,” she said, smiling in an attempt to yank back control of the conversation and the subject matter where she could digest the turn it had taken.“Thank you for your confidence in what I do as a planner.But I have to ask…”
Parker-Roth looked up, his eyes wide.“I’m all ears.”
“What came first?”she asked.“The event design or the art?”
“Good question,” Parker-Roth replied.“The event design was a natural outgrowth of the art.The kind of art I do involves special skills that very much complement the event design in a way that made it…fun, I daresay.”
Jason asked, “You didn’t plan the event design?”
Parker-Roth shook his head.“I was randomly asked to help a friend out of a jam five years ago—there was a completely unexpected book signing at an event, and the person who was usually in charge was otherwise busy.I volunteered to do the flow, because you learn how to organize the flow for an exhibit, so you can organize the flow for a signing, right?Turns out you could, and also turned out that I really liked it.I mentioned that to my friends over dinner one night, and so Tom calls me, tells me that his usual designer couldn’t help him.Asks me to take the job.I liked that, and soon enough I was offering my skills to more of my friends who needed some event of theirs organized in terms of room flow.At that point it became ridiculous to not supplement my income with something I enjoyed, as long as it didn’t keep me from doing art and doing charity.”
Jason nodded, and Naomi liked the flicker of inspiration she saw in his eyes.“Charity?”
Max nodded.“TheParker Packis actually my mom’s side of the family.”
The Parker Pack?
It took her a second to place the name.Then she remembered that the‘Parker Pack’was a foundation that helped to raise money for the families of kids and young adults with cancer.It was spearheaded by a childhood cancer survivor, and her parents, who helped her to execute her mission of giving back to the community that helped her.Not only that but also pay it forward to other families who needed it.
That is when it sank in, reminding Naomi where she’d seen Max Parker-Roth’s face before—on a poster for a Hockey4Hope event.
“Oh wow.”
Parker-Roth nodded again, as if he’d understood the undertones of the conversation even though she hadn’t expressed them.“So, every few exhibits, I do one for the Parker Pack, either proceeds, content, or usually both.Like this one.”
“I love the idea,” Naomi said.“Thank you for letting us in.”
“Thank you for trusting me with the wedding.Where do I sign?”
And as she pulled out the crisp sheet paper that had the contract, she saw Parker-Roth pull out a pen.He signed the contract in the indicated spots with a flourish and handed it back.
“Now that that’s over,” he said with a grin, “let me take you over to the exhibit space and I can show you everything.”
Two down.Two to go before the meeting with Jason’s family.
She was starting to feel so much better about what was going on around her.Now she only had to get through an exhibit that was most likely going to give her a migraine.Hopefully she’d brought her meds.
*
Jason was excitedto see what Max Parker-Roth had up his sleeve.What kind of visual art did he do?What was the story behind it?
And most importantly, how was Max Parker-Roth going to incorporate the ideals and the audience of the Parker Pack into the project he was exhibiting that night?And considering the three of them were the only ones in the building, Jason realized he had the perfect opportunity to ask the questions he wanted to.He started with, “What is the story behind this?”
