Jonathan Michael Castillo – Visitor Response Cards
What do you notice when you slow down and look closely?
As part of The Living Room at The Block Museum, Student Associates invited visitors to respond to close-looking prompts designed to spark observation, interpretation, and conversation. These prompts encouraged participants to draw connections between what they see and what they think — on their own or in dialogue with others.
On this page, we’ve gathered a selection of those reflections collected during the presentation of Jonathan Michael Castillo's “Immigrant Owned" Portfolio Together, they capture the many ways our community engages with art and show how thoughtful looking can open up new ideas, questions, and perspectives.
LOOK – Immigrant Owned Portfolio
Pick one photograph that draws you in and look at it carefully.
Why does this work capture your attention?
What details do you notice?
What more do you want to learn?
THINK – Immigrant Owned Portfolio
These are photographs of small businesses in Chicago that are owned or operated by Chicagoans who are immigrants. Made in dialogue with the business's owners, some show empty shop interiors and others portray the people who work there.
Consider the relationship between images of interior spaces and portraits of people–what similarities and differences do you notice? How do both types of photographs impact your understanding of the work?
CONNECT – Immigrant Owned Portfolio
These photographs may prompt us to think about the neighborhoods we call home and the people, places, and businesses that make them thrive.
What does your community mean to you? What people and places make your neighborhood feel like home?
