Preservation Austin is reviving its Grants Program after a one-year pause, reopening a modest-yet-steady funding source for projects that preserve, document, and interpret Austin’s historic places.

Applications are now open for the nonprofit’s Winter 2026 Grants Cycle, with submissions due January 15. Grants of up to $10,000 are available for eligible projects located within Austin city limits. The program awards funding in three categories: Bricks and Mortar, Education, and Planning/Survey/Historic Designation.

“Preservation Austin’s Grants Program provides critical funding to projects large and small, from beloved legacy businesses, to groundbreaking arts and education projects, to privately owned homes that contribute to Austin’s historic streetscapes and neighborhood fabric,” says Executive Director Lindsey Derrington.

The Neill-Cochran House Museum's mid-19th-century slave quarters received Planning and Historic Designation grant support for restoration and historical interpretation.Photo courtesy of Preservation Austin

Established in 2016, the Grants Program has awarded $239,530 to 60 projects, supporting work that ranges from building repairs and historic surveys to art exhibitions, photo documentation, and permanent historic markers. The program paused in 2025 while Preservation Austin completed the rehabilitation of its new headquarters, the McFarland McBee House, and finalized its 2025–2026 Capital Campaign, which has raised nearly $3 million to date.

In 2026, the program returns to its familiar two-cycle structure, with a winter deadline of January 15 and a summer deadline of June 15. Applicants may choose between matched grants, which provide awards of up to $10,000 and are reviewed twice each year, or rolling grants, which are reviewed year-round, offer up to $1,500, and do not require matching funds. Eligible applicants include nonprofits, neighborhood groups, and owners of individual or proposed historic landmarks.

Built around 1863, the Henry G. Madison cabin in Rosewood Park received Bricks and Mortar grant support for preservation planning work.Photo courtesy of Preservation Austin

Past grant-funded projects illustrate the breadth of preservation work taking place across Austin. In recent years, Bricks and Mortar grants have supported structural and systems repairs at sites such as the Roberts Clinic, the first medical clinic to serve Black Austinites, as well as upgrades to Cisco’s Bakery and Chateau Bellevue. Other awards have aided rehabilitation planning for the Henry G. Madison Cabin in Rosewood Park and exterior repairs to the Stolle-Sweatt House in East Austin.

Education grants have funded projects that include the Voices of Evergreen video tour of Evergreen Cemetery, interpretive signage commemorating the Economy Furniture labor strike, and Liz Moskowitz’s photo exhibition A Path of Impermanence, documenting people and places displaced by the I-35 Capital Express Central Project through downtown Austin.

Beyond the grants program, Preservation Austin is expanding its public programming to build broader engagement around preservation. The nonprofit recently launched a new lecture series, beginning with a talk by Charles L. Davis II on the Black Space Project. Preservation Austin continues to host its annual Homes Tour in the spring and Merit Awards in the fall, which recognize notable preservation efforts across the city.