The museum, which opened in 1981, is situated in the old Lace-School of Burano, founded in 1871 by Countess Andriana Marcello with the aim of revitalising a centuries-old tradition. After the School was closed, a Consortium was created by administrative boards in Venice and by the Andriana Marcello Foundation - which had been constituted in the meantime - and in 1978 they launched a campaign to rediscover and re-evaluate this art. The archives of the old School, full of important documents and drawings, were re-ordered and catalogued; the building was restructured and transformed into an exhibition site. This was the beginning of the Lace Museum. It contains many valuable pieces of the School's rich collection, together with important examples of Venetian products from the sixteenth to the twentieth century.
Incorporated in 1995 into the Venetian Civic Museums, this building today offers not only items of great value, but also the chance to observe lace-makers at work, keeping up the traditions of the island. It is also possible to consult the archives, an important source of historical and artistic documentation, with drawings, photographs and other iconographic testimony.