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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Houses of Parliament virtual tour
Explore some of the most famous rooms in Parliament and learn more about its fascinating history and present day use. The tour will be part of Google Maps, alongside similar experiences for Buckingham Palace and the White House. Anyone with a virtual reality headset will be able to get an even more immersive experience. via The Guardian Read more
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Slow Art Day: Saturday, April 8, 2017
Slow Art Day, a global event to stop and savor works of art, will take place on Saturday, April 8. This is how it works: Sign up at a participating museum or art gallery. Locally, you can join in at the Museum of Contemporary Art Santa Barbara (MCASB) and the Hammer Museum, UCLA. Attend and… Read more
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Rijksstudio award finalists
For the last three years the Rijksmuseum has solicited design contributions inspired by the museum collection. Members of the public can download images and submit their creations, which you can now vote on (until April 20). Visit the Rijksstudio site to see the 10 wonderful finalists, and cast your vote. Read more
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Getty Provenance Index® Databases adds art sales records
The Getty Provenance Index® has added 138,000 database records of art sales from the 1600s and 1700s, including the earliest known catalog published in Britain. This brings the cumulative Databases holdings to more than 1.7 million records taken from source material such as archival inventories, auction catalogs, and dealer stock books. Quantity and scope of… Read more
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Virtual tour of Frank Lloyd Wright’s David and Gladys Wright House
The David and Gladys Wright House is temporarily closed for public tours, but don’t let that stop you from exploring the site through a new virtual tour. The virtual tour of the house, originally built for FLW’s son and his wife, begins with interactive floor plans of the main house and guest house, each of… Read more
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Pharos: The International Consortium of Photo Archives
PHAROS is an international consortium of fourteen European and North American art historical photo archives committed to creating a digital platform, currently in beta, that allows research among the photographic holdings of all consortium members – an estimated 31 million images, including artworks and supplemental material. One of the best searching features they’re working on is… Read more