Named after the small red sticker that once guided scholars through legacy 35mm slides, The Red Dot is here to help you navigate the ever-evolving landscape of visual and material research. While rooted in the University of California, Santa Barbara community, our posts are open to all.
At MIRL, we engage with art history, digital humanities, and material culture through hands-on research and archival projects. Guided by our core principles—critical engagement with visual and material culture, ethical stewardship of images and data, and innovative approaches to research and pedagogy—we work at the intersection of technology and the humanities. We are especially interested in how digital tools can expand the study of images, objects, and spaces.
Here, we’ll share insights on Digital Art History and Architectural History, highlight new image and data resources, discuss copyright and ethical considerations, and spotlight events that shape our field.
The Red Dot © 2025 is licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0
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ARTstor Scheduled Maintenance Outage
Bulletin from ARTstor, just in: Please be advised, ARTstor will be performing temporary maintenance this Saturday evening, February 27th, into Sunday morning, February 28th, between the hours of 7:00 PM and 1:00 AM EST. During this time, service will be intermittently interrupted. We anticipate full service to return by 1:00 AM. If you experience any… Read more
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New use for old slides
It’s win-win – we find a good use for all the slides we’re deaccessioning, AND generate some much-needed revenue. And they’re super cute and functional! Now to find a way to buy that industrial sewing machine…. Read more
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New aerial September 11 photos released
Aerial photos of the September 11 attack on New York were released, as reported in the LA Times: “The images were taken from a police helicopter — the only photographers allowed in the airspace near the skyscrapers on Sept. 11, 2001. They were obtained by ABC after it filed a Freedom of Information Act request… Read more
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Eichler houses in LA get preservation status
The LA City Council has granted preservation status to a tract of mid-century Eichler houses in Granada Hills according to the LA Times. You can see a gallery of photos here, and read more about the Eichler homes here. Read more
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Architecture and Design Collection acquires Rex Lotery archive
UCSB’s ADC, known for its archival holdings of Southern California-based architects, recently celebrated a new acquisition: the archive of architect Rex Lotery (1930-2007). The archive contains objects from Lotery as well as from the firm Kahn, Kappe, Lotery & Boccato. Architectural historian and guest curator Nicholas Olsberg announced that selections from the archive will be… Read more
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Magnum Photos archive moves to Texas
The Magnum Photos library of more than 180,000 press prints, recently purchased by Michael S. Dell (of Dell Inc.), has moved from New York City to its new home at the Harry Ransom Center in Austin. The sale of the archive will help fund to scan the archive digitally and the move to the Ransom… Read more