Murals unveiled at Santa Barbara Library and Youth Center

Five murals were unveiled at the Eastside Library in Santa Barbara on Wednesday.

The largest mural is 6 feet wide by 80 feet long and is titled, “Libraries, Where Adventures Begin – En las Bibliotecas Empiezan las Aventuras.” It pays homage to the importance of local libraries by depicting inspirational images, words and historic figures. Four smaller murals were also unveiled at the Franklin Youth Center. All of the murals were painted by children over a seven-month period.

The works were created by The Santa Barbara Arts Alliance, a youth program led by the city’s Parks and Recreation Department. The Arts Alliance is a free, art-based, after-school mentoring program for 14-to 21-year-old students.

Manuel Unzueta is an international artist who helped paint the murals. The youth artists for the projects included Reyna Sanchez, Alex Real, Saul Rangel, Thomas Zepeda, Danny Meza, Miguel Rodriguez and Luis R. Rodriguez.

Murals unveiled at Santa Barbara Library and Youth Center