Educational Programs
Educational programs at the Preservation Texas Institute (PTI) will provide a learning environment where students, professionals, and lifelong learners can immerse themselves in the study of Texas's cultural history and the varied practices of preservation. Courses and workshops will be designed to blend theoretical and historical study with applied, hands-on training, creating a well-rounded approach to safeguarding Texas’s historic and cultural resources. Participants will have the option to pursue individual classes for personal enrichment or enroll in structured, multi-course sequences that may lead to professional certifications in specialized areas of preservation.
In the classroom, participants will explore topics such as Texas history, architecture, material culture, and preservation theory. Just as important, they will step outside to engage directly with the places and objects they study. Cultural landscapes at Bassett Farms, ranging from rural agricultural land to the Reconstruction-era freedom colony, Hopewell, will serve as open-air classrooms. Cemeteries, with their artistry, symbolism, and genealogical value, will be studied not only as historic records but also as cultural landscapes that demand careful conservation and renewal.
Pictured: The Town Place Tenant House at Bassett Farms near Kosse.
Hands-on learning will be central to the PTI experience. Participants might join an architectural restoration seminar, learning traditional building techniques while repairing historic structures on the Tehuacana campus or at partner sites like Bassett Farms. A decorative arts program could guide students through the making or conservation of books, textiles, furniture, and folk art, while a specialized workshop might explore the history of Texas stoneware and brick production, combining archaeological site visits in Mexia, Groesbeck, and Kosse with live demonstrations of historic craft methods.
Pictured: 1877 dresser made in Fredericksburg, signed by its maker, from the collection of Preservation Texas.
The curriculum will also address preservation leadership, planning, and advocacy, equipping participants to work within legal and policy frameworks that shape the field. Thematic intensives could focus on Reconstruction-era communities, with field study at sites like the Hopewell Freedom Colony and historic Black churches, or explore the intersection of environmental stewardship and preservation through sustainable agricultural practices that maintain historic cultural landscapes.
Beyond coursework, the PTI experience will include opportunities for guided field trips, research opportunities in the Institute’s library, exhibitions, film screenings, and volunteer projects. These experiences will encourage participants to connect scholarship with real-world preservation work, whether they are stabilizing a cemetery monument, documenting a cultural landscape, or curating an exhibit of regional folk art.
Pictured: The headstone of Rev. Henry Jefferson at Hopewell Cemetery near Kosse.
By offering both intellectual rigor and practical experience, the Preservation Texas Institute will serve as a training ground for preservationists, community advocates, and cultural stewards of all ages and backgrounds, equipping them with the knowledge, skills, and credentials to preserve, appreciate, and understand Texas’s diverse cultural heritage.