top of page

Book: Museum Master Planning: Basic Principles and Best Practices

Guy and Sara's book is now available from Bloomsbury! 

​

Museum Master Planning: Basic Principles and Best Practices is a practical guide for directors of museums and similar cultural organizations considering changes to their operating model or facilities. Museum Master Planning presents a complete step-by-step planning process that results in a master plan that will shape a museum’s growth and development over the next 15 to 20 years. The planning process outlined here begins with people—who is the museum serving now? Who would the museum like to be serving in the future? When a museum understands the interests and needs of the people they serve, the kinds of programs, facilities, and operational underpinnings needed come into focus. Using lessons from successful museum master plans, the planning process outlined here results in a user focused plan for the future. Detailed chapters on museum programs, staffing, and facilities provide the foundation for growth and development. The final sections of the book discuss working with other planning and design experts to fully realize the plan. Field-tested tools, worksheets, and other resources will allow readers to easily implement the planning process at their own institution.

The cover of the book, which features a red-orange enso on a dark blue background.

Articles

Selected articles authored by members of Museum Insights. Have problems accessing an article? Use the contact form, and we'll gladly send you a copy.

  • Charting a Path Toward Historic Sites Sustainability: Mission, Money, and Meaning. The Public Historian 1 August 2025; 47 (3): 87–118. doi: https://doi.org/10.1525/tph.2025.47.3.87​

  • New Frameworks for Evaluating Historic Properties. History@Work Bog, September 22, 2023. Read here. ​

​

Conference Presentations

Museum Insights regularly presents at conferences. Here is a selection of upcoming and recent presentations. 

  • "Investment, Impact, and Identity: Temporary Exhibitions as Tools for Institutional Strategy," with Sarah Watkins, USS Constitution Museum and Martina Caruso, South Street Seaport Museum, Council of American Maritime Museums, April 2026.

  • “Solid Succession: Considering Succession Planning and Institutional DNA at Historic Organizations," National Council on Public History Annual Meeting, March 2025.

  • "Let's Talk Business: Leveraging Your Museum's Business Model," New England Museum Association Annual Conference, November 2024.

  • "Museum Master Planning," Council of American Maritime Museums, May 2023.

  • "Planning for the Long Term," National Council on Public History, April 2023.​

  • “Re-visioning a Modern Museum at 50: The Art Complex Museum," with Andy Bentinck-Smith, Vice President Art Complex Museum Board; Matthew Oudens, Oudens Ello Architecture; Erik Bodelsen, Kohler Ronan Consulting Engineers, Building Museums Conference, March 2023. 

  • "A Balancing Act: Revitalizing and Transforming the Historic House Museum through Authentic Engagement Experiences,” New England Museum Association Annual Conference, November 2019. 

  • “Interpreting Our Heritage in the 21st Century,” National Council on Public History Annual Meeting, April 2019.

​

bottom of page