Manuel Unzueta, the undisputed godfather of mural art throughout the South Coast, will be the beneficiary of a fundraising gala this Thursday from 5-8 p.m. at El Paseo Restaurant to help him recover from the fire that wiped out his backyard studio on Santa Barbara’s Eastside. In 15 minutes, Unzueta lost an art collection that took 50 years to amass. Unzueta — who taught at City College and has played mentor to countless students — has always occupied the intersection between art and politics. During the 1970s, his work helped define Santa Barbara’s emerging Chicano movement; in the past two years it’s played a key role in helping scores of young artists involved in the creation of two new expansive murals, one on the walls of the Eastside library and another at Bohnett Park on the city’s Westside.
