SAN ANTONIO, Texas— Winners of the second-ever Texas Historical Foundation Michael C. Duda Preservation Awards were announced at the April 30 event in San Antonio.
The Texas Historical Foundation is pleased to share the winners of the 2026 Michael C. Duda Preservation Awards, the second installment of the biennial awards recognizing excellence in the preservation of historic architecture. Following a selection process that considered dozens of nominees from across the state, four organizations were honored at the 2026 Awards at the San Antonio Botanic Garden.
The Award, named for architect and late Foundation Board Member Michael Duda, offers monetary prizes of up to $100,000—the largest of the kind in the state.
The 2026 winners are:
- Buffalo Soldiers National Museum, Houston – The 2026 Duda Preservation Award winners received $100,000 for their outstanding work restoring the 1925 Houston Light Guard Armory, home to the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum. The completed restoration will see the museum reopened, along with the debut of six immersive galleries showcasing Texas’ African American military histories spanning centuries.
- Hemisfair Conservancy, San Antonio – Champions of the once-neglected Hemisfair District were recognized with the second place $30,000 prize for their work at the 1885 Kusch House. One of the organization’s earliest restorations, the Kusch served as proof of concept for the Conservancy’s model of restoration and reinvestment that has transformed the district.
- Chinati Foundation, Marfa - received $20,000 for their work at the former Fort D.A. Russell, now a contemporary art museum focusing on works that blur boundaries between art, architecture, and environment. First established in 1983 by renowned artist and architect Donald Judd, their conservation work is inflected with his sensibilities and informed by the constraints of its distinctive West Texas landscape.
- Friends of the Texas Historical Commission – Recognized with the honorable mention Directors’ Recognition Award for their outstanding work at the Magoffin Home State Historical Site in El Paso, where the team’s consummate attention to the science and technique in preserving adobe structures has set a new standard of excellence in caring for our nation’s oldest extant structures.
These organizations are united in their commitment to the transformative power of architectural preservation. Each one, in its own unique way, demonstrates how intergenerational collaboration can enhance and refine preservation models to serve diverse communities, purposes, and environments. Together, they highlight the significant impact that architectural preservation can have.
Since 1954, the Texas Historical Foundation has empowered communities to preserve their own pieces of Texas history through our grants program. For more information, visit texashistoricalfoundation.org.
