Founded in 1882, the first School of Arts and Crafts Applied to Industry in Italy, it was successful in national and international exhibitions from its early years.
In 1888 the women’s course of Drawing for Lace was established there.
It later became the Royal Professional School of Furniture and Lace with sectorial workshops and teaching of General Culture.
Renowned architects and artists taught there.
Since 1959 the School, moved to Via Andina, became the State Institute of Furniture Art, with sections on Wood Art, Furniture, Decoration and the Art of Lace and Embroidery.
The Institute, endowed with a vast and valuable artistic heritage of objects, artifacts and designs, protects and enhances it, in the belief that it contributes to strengthening its identity, soliciting students’ conscious participation in the educational proposal and educating them to respect the local and national artistic heritage.
Since 2005 all the material has been catalogued in a Digital Archive; the wooden works and plaster casts are kept in a local archive provided with the indispensable requirements for protection and preservation, which can be visited only on special occasions.
Formerly the Cantù School of Art, in Piazza Parini then as the State Art Institute for Furniture and now as the Fausto Melotti State High School of Art, in Via Andina 8.