When Manuel Unzueta stumbled down the stairs and into his backyard after hearing his sister scream in the middle of the night, he froze in horror.
Before him, plumes of smoke and flames rose 30 feet high from the art studio that housed over 40 years of collected works. Beside it, 10 pets caught fire and struggled in their cages. Only one survived; a four-month-old dwarf rabbit named Milagro, which is Spanish for “miracle.”
“There were bunnies in here when it was in flames and I was trying to save them but it was over. The smallest of all the bunnies was running around burning so I picked it up and I was going to twist her head so she wouldn’t suffer and the fireman goes, ‘don’t do it, please,’ so I covered her and put her in a little basket,” said Unzueta, a part-time Chicano Art teacher. “She’s blind, but she’s thriving. The vet says she’s going to make it.”
According to the Santa Barbara Fire Department, the cause of the fire is inconclusive, but may have started because of an electrical spark. At 1:15 a.m. March 1, the fire destroyed everything that Unzueta had created and collected over the years. It shattered one neighbor’s windows and seriously damaged another neighbor’s vehicle.
“Had my sister not gotten up at the time it would have been too late,” said Unzueta. “If the fire department would have come five minutes later, my neighbor’s house would have been burning. It would be a mess.”
The structure contained 24 collections of Unzueta’s art dating back to his high-school days, Mayan and Aztec art collections, 200 original songs’ sheet music, a poetry collection, five expensive guitars, fossilized bones, a book signed by Muhammad Ali and a letter signed by Ted Kennedy when Unzueta was honored by Congress for his involvement in the community.
“My earliest work in there was from 1964, when I was a kid, and an album of drawings that my mother always kept,” Unzueta said. “She has Alzheimer’s now and all she ever talks about are my paintings, but we’re talking about famous signatures and art that was lost.”
Only five paintings kept within the main house were saved. He estimates a quarter of a million dollars lost to the flames.
“When I start thinking of the things I lost, I cannot sleep. I had everything for my kids’ education in the future. That’s what it was for,” Unzueta said.
Unzueta retired from his full-time job at the Extended Opportunity Programs and Services (EOPS) at City College in 2004 and now teaches Chicano Art part-time. All of his lectures were burned in the fire, but he knows he will be able to move on.
Since his retirement, he has been working tirelessly to improve the community by painting murals with youth for gang prevention as well as other art-oriented community service.
“I used to paint by myself and that’s very satisfactory, but to me, here on the east side, we need help to beautify the area and talk to the youngsters that have been targeted as being in trouble,” said Unzueta. “In the three months that I have been here I have been able to talk to all these youngsters, I have an easy way of dealing with them because I was involved with music and sports and whatever they want to discuss, I discuss with them. I feel like the grandfather to these kids.”
His backyard was a hub for troubled youth to come relax.
“Students come here and eat on Thanksgiving if they don’t have anybody. I cooked for them,” said Unzueta. “It doesn’t matter that it’s gone. I have to keep giving back to the community like I’ve been doing for 45 years.”
EOPS student advisor Silvia Suayfeta-Cortez met Manuel as a student in the early seventies.
“Manuel has always been an artist first and foremost, so his view of everything is very philosophical,” said Cortez. “He loves interacting with students. His whole thing was always how to bring the community and the college together.”
The Milagro Fire Fund was set up by City College’s EOPS and named after Unzueta’s “miracle” bunny. Donations should be sent to Santa Barbara Bank and Trust. He plans to use money raised to sponsor his children’s education.
On April 18, there will be a “Celebration of Manuel Unzueta’s Art” held downtown at El Paseo plaza.
“I think Manuel lost art that cannot be brought back, but I think with him it is what it is and he won’t dwell on it. He will move on; that’s what he does. This is his art,” said Cortez.
