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, Archivision and CDL deliver a payload!
With some end of the year money available, the California Digital Library has licensed three huge segments of the vendor Archivision‘s fantastic images of architecture and public art for all UC campuses. The Archivision Base Collection has 16,370 images “representing major Greek, Roman, Medieval, Renaissance, Baroque, 18th & 19th Century and Modern sites”. Archivision Module… Read more
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Congratulations to our graduates!
Three of our wonderful VRC workers have graduated this year – Una, Shelby and John. Good luck to all of you, and stay in touch!! Read more
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Now that’s artistic devotion
Here’s a HubPage that shows examples of a love of art on a completely other level (even if some of the facts are incorrect): Tattoos of works of art. If you think this is a great idea but balk at the permanence of it, you could try something like these instead… Read more
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Banksy in Bristol — or on BBC
If you find yourself in England this summer, check out the new Banksy exhibition at Bristol’s City Museum & Art Gallery. The show, “Banksy Versus Bristol Museum”, runs through 31 August and features the elusive artist’s wry take on traditional art interspersed throughout the museum (the installation was performed under tight security and reportedly in 36… Read more
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Orange Co. Museum of Art sells paintings to private collector
Culture Monster, a LA Times.com arts blog, is reporting that the Orange County Museum of Art in Newport Beach sold 18 of 20 California Impressionist paintings from its collection to an unidentified Laguna Beach private collector rather than send them to auction. The sale, which took place in late March, recently came to the attention… Read more