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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New ARTstor collection announcements
ARTstor has announced the following are available in the Digital Library: Brooklyn Museum Costumes (The Metropolitan Museum of Art): 5,883 high resolution images of highlights from the Brooklyn Museum now housed in the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s Costume Institute (keywords: brooklyn costume) The Samuel H. Kress Collection and National Gallery of Art: 1,757 images from… Read more
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Fine Art Study Break
When you find yourself with a moment to spare (or are in need of a quick break from the task at hand), check out the blog That Is Priceless by comedy writer Steve Melcher, who daily offers his “slightly funnier” take on the subject matter in various works of art. Read more
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Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s “Historic Cities”
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem’s Department of Geography and The Jewish National and University Library offer a fantastic website dedicated to “maps, literature, documents, books and other relevant material concerning the past, present and future of historic cities”. The site is searchable by area, mapmaker or year, and each image can be viewed in high… Read more
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“Soundsuit” exhibition at the Fowler Museum
A fantastic exhibit is opening this weekend at the Fowler Museum at UCLA (Jan. 10 to May 30). Nick Cave: Meet Me at the Center of the Earth includes 35 multimedia costumes/soundsuits designed by artist/dancer/costume designer Nick Cave (not the Australian singer!). We saw this show in San Francisco and it’s really terrific. You… Read more
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LA Arts Month starts
LA Arts Month kicks off this week. There’s a packed schedule of special film screenings, lectures, dance and music performances, gallery openings, workshops, and more. To read more and see the schedule of events, go to their site. image at right is from LACMA’s “HEROES & VILLAINS: The Battle for Good in Indian’s Comics” Read more
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Rummaging up Baroque relics
Italian anthropologists have been searching for the remains of the Italian Baroque painter Caravaggio–who, after a contentious life, died in 1610–and have narrowed the search to an underground crypt in Porto Ercole. After sorting through roughly 40 sets of remains, and by means of carbon dating, CAT scans and DNA analysis, scientists believe they have… Read more