Hands-On Adobe Preservation Workshop in Socorro
July 11 - 12, 2025 | El Paso & Socorro, Texas
Join Preservation Texas for a hands-on adobe preservation workshop on Friday, July 11th and Saturday, July 12th, 2025. This workshop is AIA CES approved. AIA members receive 6 LU | HSW for participating.
The event kicks off Friday evening with an orientation session from 6:00–7:30 p.m. at the West Texas Heritage Center in downtown El Paso (201 E San Antonio Ave). During this time, adobe conservation expert Pat Taylor will provide an overview of adobe construction techniques, historical context, and preservation methods, and will share about the mission of his nonprofit organization, Querencia Mi Mesilla. Participants will also get a preview of the hands-on tasks and learning objectives for the following day’s workshop at Rio Vista Farm, and learn about the rehabilitation plans for the site.
On Saturday, participants will gather at historic Rio Vista Farm in Socorro (901 N. Rio Vista Road) from 8:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., where they will make adobe bricks and repair damage to an original adobe structure on the site’s north side. Lunch will be provided.
Workshop instructor Pat Taylor is the co-author of Adobe Conservation: A Preservation Handbook. With decades of experience in the Southwestern U.S., Mexico, and South America, Pat brings deep expertise in adobe, stone, and lime preservation.
Registration is $50 for Preservation Texas members or $75 for non-members. Space is limited to 20 participants — first come, first served! Sorry, no refunds.
If you are unsure of your current membership status, please contact hunick@preservationtexas.org.
Above: The Rio Vista Farm building that participants will make repairs to during the workshop.
Established in 1915 as El Paso County Poor Farm, Rio Vista later served as the U.S. headquarters for the WWII-era Bracero Program, where Mexican laborers were processed before being sent to various jobs across several states. The site was included on Preservation Texas’s Most Endangered Places List in 2015, and was designated a National Historic Landmark by the Secretary of the Interior in 2023.
Workshop Sponsors
