Museum Planning

What Museum Planning does

Museum Planning LLC is a New York-based boutique consulting practice founded in 1999 by Mark Walhimer that provides feasibility studies, strategic planning, master planning, and exhibition design services to cities, municipalities, universities, and nonprofit cultural institutions. With more than 40 museum projects completed since inception, the firm operates internationally through its New York and Mexico City offices, with documented engagements across the United States, Mexico, Indonesia, and Hong Kong.

The firm's service offering is organized into four principal engagement tiers: Market Viability and Impact (MVI) Assessments starting at $18,000, Feasibility Studies in the $40,000–$70,000 range, full Master Plans at $100,000 or more, and Exhibition Design services priced between $20,000 and $80,000. Underlying intellectual property includes the proprietary MVI Assessment framework, the DME (Designing Museum Experiences) Process, and a body of published thought leadership including "Museums 101" (Bloomsbury, 2015) and "Designing Museum Experiences" (Bloomsbury, 2021), both adopted in museum studies curricula worldwide. The firm also operates a free educational platform ("Museum School") and a "Field Notes" publication that generate inbound demand and reinforce its positioning as a sector authority.

Revenue is generated through fixed-fee consulting engagements with public-sector and institutional clients, supplemented by book royalties and ancillary advisory services such as Staff Portal and Handbook Review. The firm functions as a personal consultancy of 1–10 employees in which the founder is personally involved in 100% of engagements, making it bandwidth-constrained but capable of delivering high-touch work to large anchor clients such as the Howard Natural History Museum ($27.75 million master planning engagement, completed 2024), the C.O. Polk Interactive Museum (2019), and ongoing work for Trans Studio in Indonesia and the Frehner Museum in 2026.

Name

Museum Planning

Legal name

Museum Planning LLC

Website

https://museumplanning.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Museum Planning LLC is a New York-based boutique consulting practice founded in 1999 by Mark Walhimer that provides feasibility studies, strategic planning, master planning, and exhibition design services to cities, municipalities, universities, and nonprofit museums worldwide.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Museum Consulting Services

NAICS

Museums (712110), Architectural Services (541310)

SIC

Services-Mailing, Reproduction, Commercial Art & Photography (7330)

akta.pro primary industry

Museums & Heritage Sites (History, Science, Specialty) (BPAGAHAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Historic Preservation & Conservation Planning (BPAHAKAH)

Keywords

• Museum consulting
• Feasibility studies
• Exhibition design
• Strategic planning
• Master planning

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Museum Planning Consulting Services: Fees for feasibility studies, strategic planning, master planning, and exhibition design engagements. The primary revenue stream is professional consulting fees structured as project-based engagements with typical fee ranges. The practice is a personal consulting model where Mark Walhimer is directly involved in all work.
2. Book Publications: Revenue from book sales of 'Museums 101' (Bloomsbury, 2015) and 'Designing Museum Experiences' (Bloomsbury, 2021). Both books are used in museum studies programs worldwide.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels10 records

Core offering

Museum Planning LLC is a personal consulting practice that helps museums, cities, and universities plan, design, and open cultural facilities. The firm delivers feasibility studies, strategic plans, master plans, resiliency planning, exhibition design, and city cultural plans. It also offers proprietary tools such as the Museum Vitality Index and the DME Process to support museum operations.

Product overview

Museum Planning LLC is a consulting practice founded in 1999 that specializes in the full arc of museum development — from feasibility through opening day. The firm offers a structured service portfolio anchored by Resiliency Planning Study, Museum Feasibility Study, Museum Strategic Planning, Museum Master Planning, Museum Exhibition Design, and City Cultural Plans. These core consulting services are supported by the proprietary DME Process (Designing Museum Experiences) methodology and the Museum Vitality Index (MVI) assessment tool. Educational resources include Museum School (free guides) and two published books — Museums 101 and Designing Museum Experiences. The firm also produces thought leadership through the Museum AI framework and Convergence Era white paper. Services are available for museums, cities, municipalities, and universities, with offices in New York and Mexico City and worldwide reach.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Museum School: Free educational guides and resources for the museum planning field, including guides on starting a museum, children's museums, and exhibition design.
• Museums 101
• Designing Museum Experiences

Products and services

• Resiliency Planning Study
• Museum Feasibility Study
• Museum Strategic Planning
• Museum Master Planning
• Museum Exhibition Design
• City Cultural Plans
• Staff Portal & Handbook Review
• Museums 101 Book
• Designing Museum Experiences Book

Quantifiable outcome

• 40+ museums completed since founding in 1999
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers18 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Trans StudiocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTrans Studio Science Center project in Indonesia involving exhibition design and master planning services for a science center client.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Lord Cultural Resources: Toronto-based cultural sector consulting firm offering museum master planning, feasibility studies, audience research, and strategic planning for museums, galleries, and cultural institutions globally. Most directly comparable to Museum Planning LLC in service mix and buyer type (cities, universities, nonprofits).
• The Exhibits Group: US-based museum exhibit design and fabrication firm serving children's museums, science centers, and history museums. Comparable to Museum Planning LLC on the design-through-installation side of museum exhibition projects.
• Haley Sharpe Design: Museum and exhibition design firm with offices in the UK, Canada, and the Middle East delivering master planning, interpretive planning, and exhibition design for cultural and heritage clients — same service categories as Museum Planning LLC and a similar institutional buyer base.
• Gallagher & Associates: Museum and cultural exhibit design firm offering interpretive planning, exhibition design, and content development for history, science, and children's museums. Closely comparable to Museum Planning LLC's exhibition design practice on the fabrication and interpretive side.
• CambridgeSeven: Architecture and design firm with a dedicated museum and cultural-institution practice spanning master planning, exhibition design, and interpretive planning for aquariums, children's museums, and natural history institutions — overlapping the same buyer segments and deliverable types as Museum Planning LLC.
• Evidence Design: Exhibit design and museum planning studio serving history, science, and children's museums with master planning, exhibition design, and visitor-experience strategy — directly comparable to Museum Planning LLC's exhibition design and visitor-experience framing.

Emerging players

• Cuseum: Digital engagement and AI platform for museums and cultural institutions, focused on visitor experience, mobile apps, and smart-exhibit technology — adjacent to Museum Planning LLC's emerging Convergence Era / Museum AI framework for AI-enabled museum planning.

Broad incumbents

• Gensler: Global architecture and design firm with an active cultural practice delivering museums, libraries, and cultural centers. Overlaps with Museum Planning LLC on civic and institutional cultural master planning but offers the full architecture package at much larger scale.
• Snøhetta: Global architecture and design firm with a substantial cultural-institution portfolio (museums, opera houses, libraries). It competes with Museum Planning LLC for civic cultural master-planning engagements but as part of a much wider practice and with bundled architecture services.
• FXCollaborative: Architecture and urban design firm with cultural, civic, and institutional projects including museums and visitor centers. Competes for some of the same master-planning and design commissions as Museum Planning LLC within a broader portfolio.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/MuseumPlanning
• Facebookfacebook.com/MuseumPlanningLLC
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/museum-planning-llc
• Instagraminstagram.com/museumplanning

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Museum Planning