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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Help stop the elimination of the NEA and NEH
Even before his inauguration, the new President announced his intention to eliminate funding for the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). While named as part of an effort to cut the federal budget, these two organizations (and the The Corporation for Public Broadcasting, which he would privatize)… Read more
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Even more reasons to study art history
Noah Charney, art historian and author, argues convincingly for the increased importance and relevance of a humanities-based education in “The art of learning: Why art history might be the most important subject you could study today” on Salon.com. The multiple skills and interdisciplinary aspects of studying art history increase critical thinking, especially important in this age… Read more
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Now available: Performance at Tate
Performance at Tate: Into the Space of Art “explores the history of performance art at Tate from the 1960s to 2016. Arising from a two-year research project, this major online publication offers a new appraisal of the place of performance art and performativity in the museum through essays and case studies on individual artworks and… Read more
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George Eastman House collections online
The George Eastman Museum’s vast collections are now searchable online, including over 250,000 objects from the photography, technology, and George Eastman Legacy collections. Visit often as additional records and images will be added on an ongoing basis, including the Moving Image collection of more than 28,000 titles spanning the entire history of world cinema. via… Read more
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Los Angeles Art Show: January 11-15, 2017
Mark your calendars for the 22nd edition of the LA Art Show: Modern | Contemporary, which will be held January 11-15, 2017 in the West Hall of the LA Convention Center. This ever-evolving art fair will feature innovative galleries, lectures, and artist performances that showcase premier Modern and Contemporary work. Read more
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Artstor adds 32,000 images of contemporary art
Artstor and Larry Qualls have released approximately 32,000 images of contemporary art exhibited in the New York area in the past three decades. This release joins the more than 100,000 images already available in the Larry Qualls Archive, including images of all the major figures equated with contemporary art from the 1980s to the present.… Read more