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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DIL Mapping workshop: How to Make Maps
Please join the Image Resource Center for the first talk in our new series, Mapping, which will cover data visualization, map creation, digital recreation, as well as provide an introduction to mapping tools and resources. Our first speaker in the series is Professor Keith Clarke from the Department of Geography at UCSB, who will present How… Read more
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Behold this presidential group portrait
The painting below, “The Republican Club” by Andy Thomas, hangs in the White House, in the Oval Office in fact. It depicts several living and dead Republican presidents. This article in the Guardian breaks down each individual portrait very nicely. Discuss! Points for identification of the fellow in the background on the right. Read more
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Architectural photography finalists
Something beautiful to start off our school year: enjoy this gallery of 20 finalists for the annual Architectural Photography Awards. The winners will be announced on November 30. Children peering through Wolfgang Buttress’ installation, The Hive, at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Kew, UK, by Turkish photographer Omer Kanipak Read more
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Reimagining the Museum Tour
An article in today’s New York Times looks at how companies like Museum Hack are presenting the museum experience in new (and sometimes irreverent) ways. Lead by informed and lively guides (many are performers), Museum Hack offers tours in New York, LA, Chicago, and a growing number of other major US cities. Offerings such as… Read more
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Making LOC Public Domain and Rights-Clear Content Easier to Find
When the Library of Congress redesigned the Library’s home page in late 2016 they began featuring free-to-use sets at the bottom of the page. Each set displayed on the home page is now available from the Free to Use and Reuse page. The Library believes that this content is either in the public domain, a… Read more
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Who owns 3D scans of archaeological sites?
There was an interesting piece on NPR this week about high-resolution images, panoramas and 3D scans of archaeological sites. This type of capture is very useful for all sites, but has been particularly invaluable for sites which have been destroyed in recent years. In addition to viewing a structure that may no longer exist, they… Read more