Park House Museum

Nominee for an ACO Public Education and Engagement Award

The Park House Museum stands apart for its creative, active approach to heritage education. Under Curator Kat Bezaire, the museum has moved away from passive viewing.

A central piece of this strategy is the museum’s immersive, skill-building workshops. Visitors do not just look at the historic kitchen; they take part in an intensive, four-hour hearth cooking program. Participants use period-accurate recipes to bake and cook directly over the museum’s open fire, learning 19th-century domestic history through taste and touch. The museum also runs interactive workshops in butter making and traditional tinsmithing, keeping early regional trade skills alive for modern generations.

Beyond the kitchen and workshops, the museum actively takes its educational mission directly to the streets. During the annual Windsor-Essex Jane’s Walk Festival, Bezaire leads “Talk and Tours” through the house. She uses these events to share stories of the past residents of the home as well as standard of the day with attendees.

This outward-facing outreach expands significantly during Amherstburg’s summer weekend “Open Streets.” Festival. The museum team moves its operations directly into pedestrian zones to host accessible “Coffee & Culture” public talks and hands-on heritage demonstrations. By taking part in these civic events, the museum meets thousands of everyday passersby where they are, breaking down the traditional barriers of historic education and weaving local heritage right into modern community life.