About CPF and the Awards

Held in conjunction with CPF’s 2026 Annual Conference in Riverside, the 2026 Mission Inn Preservation Design Awards Ceremony and Reception will spotlight excellence in historic preservation in a setting that reflects the very spirit of the work being honored. This special evening brings together award recipients, conference participants, preservation leaders, and supporters from across California to celebrate outstanding preservation projects and leadership through the Preservation Design Awards and President’s Awards.

Founded in 1978, the California Preservation Foundation (CPF) is California’s statewide nonprofit organization dedicated to the protection of historic places and cultural heritage. Through education, advocacy, and community-centered programs, CPF supports the people, projects, and policies that keep California’s historic resources vital and valued. We now support a national network of more than 36,000 members and supporters. Click here to learn how you can become a member.

Save As Podcast Team

Project Lead– Trudi Sandmeier, University of Southern California Heritage Conservation Program

Project Lead / Title – Cindy Olnick, Cindy Olnick Communications

 

Save As: NextGen Heritage Conservation Podcast

The Save As: NextGen Heritage Conservation Podcast is a winner for the 2022 Preservation Design Award for Cultural Heritage / Intangible Assets. Award recipients are selected by a jury of top professionals in the fields of architecture, engineering, planning, and history, as well as renowned architecture critics and journalists. Tickets and sponsorship options are available at californiapreservation.org/awards.

Read more about the Preservation Design Awards
Two people wearing headphones sit at a table with microphones, recording a podcast in a studio. Papers, a computer monitor, and audio equipment are visible. Text overlay promotes a podcast on heritage conservation.
A cozy coffee shop with eclectic decor, including vibrant murals, framed photos, posters, shelves with memorabilia, a Watts Coffee House sign, and various coffee-making equipment on the counter.
Handwritten message on a wall reads: To Desiree and staff, Watts Coffee House. Thank you for making my dream a reality. Love and peace, Arthur Silvers, architect.
A woman in a sleeveless dress stands outside an old, ornate wooden house, holding her face with one hand and looking distressed. Beside her is a barrel filled with various household items and boxes.
A single-story house with beige siding, a gabled roof, stone accents, and a well-maintained front yard with green grass, shrubs, rocks, and various plants under a clear blue sky.

About the Save As: NextGen Heritage Conservation Podcast

The podcast Save As: NextGen Heritage Conservation glimpses the future of the field through the groundbreaking work of graduate students at the University of Southern California.

Why do we save historic places, and for whom? Who decides what to save? How can conserving our heritage advance social issues like affordable housing, climate action, and racial justice? 

The podcast Save As: NextGen Heritage Conservation explores these and other issues through interviews with graduate students in the University of Southern California’s Heritage Conservation Program. From sites of racial violence to acoustic heritage, these students push the boundaries of the field with their thesis research and coursework. Save As takes this work off the shelf and brings it to new audiences in an engaging format.

Of 30 full episodes to date, all but one feature places in California. Each episode covers one topic, typically a master’s thesis. Some episodes discuss class projects, and occasional “Where Are They Now?” interviews showcase alumni to encourage careers in conservation.

Save As makes scholarship accessible, conveys new knowledge about California, connects history with contemporary life, and literally amplifies the voices of emerging leaders in the field.