The museum, opened in 1981, is located in the spaces of the historic Burano Lace School, founded in 1872 by Countess Andriana Marcello to recover and relaunch a centuries-old tradition. After the closure of the school, a consortium created by the Venetian public bodies and the Andriana Marcello Foundation - which was established in the meantime - began, starting from 1978, a careful activity of rediscovery and cultural enhancement of this art: the archive of the ancient Scuola, full of important documents and drawings, is rearranged and cataloged; the venue is restructured and transformed into an exhibition space. Thus was born the Lace Museum. Over one hundred precious specimens from the School's rich collection are exhibited, as well as important evidence of Venetian production from the 16th to the 20th century.
Included since 1995 in the Civic Museums of Venice, this space now offers not only the display of pieces of great value, but also the possibility of observing from life the processing techniques proposed by the lacemakers, still today the custodians of this art and present at the morning in the museum. The archive is also available to scholars, an important source of historical and artistic documentation, with drawings, photos and various iconographic testimonies.