Corporate Museums, Galleries, and Visitor Centers: A Directory

One of the most frequently overlooked areas of the museum world is those museums and museum-like facilities that are part of manufacturing and other types of companies. Usually known as corporate museums, galleries, or visitor centres, they have other names, such as exhibit halls, history rooms, sculpture gardens, information centres, and even halls of fame. In general, they are exhibit-based facilities owned and operated by publicly-traded or privately-held companies as public relations, marketing, and/or personnel relations vehicles. In some cases, however, they are operated through foundations started and largely funded and controlled by companies. This comprehensive guide describe more than 300 such corporate museum, galleries, and visitor centres from throughout the world. These facilities are often not listed in conventional museum directories. As part of a corporate organization, they generally do not receive the visibility, publicity, and recognition accorded most non-profit museums.