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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ArchDaily’s Sustainability Glossary: A-B-C
Since architects and designers [and architectural historians!] carry a responsibility of building a substantial future, ArchDaily has put together an A-Z list of every sustainability term that you might come across. Every week, a new set of letters will be published, helping you stay well-rounded on everything related to sustainable architecture and design. Here are… Read more
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Caltrans covers Judy Baca’s mural “Hitting the Wall”
SPARC (Social and Public Art Resource Center) in LA announces “….Judy Baca’s iconic freeway mural, ‘Hitting the Wall’ has been completely whitewashed by Caltrans. This mural was painted in 1984 to commemorate the strength of women who prevailed over Olympic restrictions and were able to participate in their first Olympics marathon that year. The mural… Read more
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Renaissance Polychrome Sculpture in Tuscany
Renaissance Polychrome Sculpture in Tuscany is an online open-access database of photographs of and information about over 350 objects, produced by Una D’Elia, Heather Merla, and Rachel Boyd. High-resolution photographs are freely available for research, teaching, and publication. Clicking on “show full item record” reveals further information and bibliography. The database also includes an integrated… Read more
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President Erdogan vows Hagia Sophia will become a mosque again
The Turkish president wants the monument to serve as a place of worship flouting international pressure to retain the site’s current neutral status. Among other issues related to the museum’s potential reversal, it could “endanger its World Heritage status: Hagia Sophia is inscribed on Unesco’s list with other sites on Istanbul’s historic peninsula, and any… Read more
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The stuff in museum basements
The New York Times had a fascinating report on all the ‘stuff’ in museum storage that never gets put on display, and is often of very low value or interest. Much of this is due to gifts from donors that come with restrictive agreements, causing a tenfold collection expansion at some institutions in the last… Read more
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All the UK’s 150,000 public sculptures to go online
The first 1,000 of Britain’s 150,000 publicly-owned sculptures have been published this week thanks to a project organized by Art UK. These works are global in nature and range in date from c. 1000 CE to modern times. The project includes photographing works that have yet to be been properly documented and the remaining works… Read more