Eric Lassen Memorial Plaque Installed at Community Arts Workshop
- solstice4
- Jul 16, 2025
- 2 min read
Updated: Jul 16, 2025
Guest writer: Tom Moore
Several weeks ago there was a sweet, well-attended memorial held at the County Bowl, honoring the life of Eric Lassen, and the many great contributions he made to his community. The breadth of Eric’s work in Santa Barbara, and the swarm of people touched by their association with Eric, were in full evidence at that occasion. Eric was indefatigable in his efforts in behalf of the Summer Solstice, the Community Arts Workshop, Homes for People, and particularly his extraordinary work for the County Bowl, and he was also an extraordinarily kind and gracious man.
Last week I received notice that on July 11 there would be a dedication of a memorial plaque honoring Eric, to be installed at the Community Arts Workshop, in which Eric was a dedicated participant. This occasion was much more modest in scale, but still a very moving one. I joined just six other people, all of them prime movers in the Solstice and the Community Arts Workshop (CAW).
Photo by Tom Moore
Pictured in the above photograph, they were: Leon Olson, a founding member of the Summer Solstice Board of Directors, and another prime mover in his long-time work for the CAW; Ginny Brush, former Director of the County Arts Commission and an active participant in the CAW project; Casey Caldwell, Executive Director of the Santa Barbara Arts Collaborative, which manages the CAW; Claudia Bratton, who served for many years as the Executive Director of the Summer Solstice Celebration; Penny Little, the present Summer Solstice Director; and Riccardo Morrison, who has been the Artistic Director of the Solstice Parade for 20 years.
Casey Caldwell offered some opening remarks about the special person who was Eric Lassen, followed by comments from several others sharing their own joyful associations with Eric. This was followed by Casey sounding the beautiful trumpeting note of his conch shell.
The plaque, donated by the SB Arts Collaborative, is installed at the base of a Queen Palm Tree, dedicated in Eric’s memory, presented through Santa Barbara Beautiful. It is a lovely, well-deserved tribute to a lovely man.
Photo by Tom Moore
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Excellent post! Thanks for providing such useful insights.
this was a really touching and meaningful update, the installation of the memorial plaque for Eric Lassen at the Community Arts Workshop feels like a simple but powerful way to honor someone who clearly gave so much to the local arts community, I like how the post captures the quiet and personal nature of the moment — not a huge event, but something sincere with people who genuinely knew and appreciated his impact, it makes the tribute feel more real and heartfelt, especially knowing how involved he was in shaping community arts spaces and supporting creativity over the years, having the plaque placed near something living like a tree also adds a symbolic touch, like his influence is still part…
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It's wonderful to see the "swarm of people" who came to honor Eric Lassen. It shows he wasn't just respected for his extraordinary work for the County Bowl, but also for being an extraordinarily kind and gracious man. His energy was indefatigable, like the engine of a legendary 'drift boss' car, always running at peak performance!