TROY – Lily Scheerer is the sort of enterprising young student who likely will benefit greatly from the Troy-Miami County Library Maker Lab.

Long before the new makerspace opened to the public Monday, Scheerer, a junior at Troy High School, had already left her mark all over the Maker Lab. Scheerer was chosen to paint a massive mural that stretches across several walls in the library’s newest addition.

“I was in art class with Mrs. (Jill) Hartman, and she knew of the opportunity and suggested me for it,” Scheerer said in a Troy City Schools press release.

The 5,000-square-foot makerspace, located on the second floor of the Hobart Center for County Government, near the main library, will offer the public the opportunity to use machines and equipment such as 3D printers and a 3D scanner, a laser cutter, vinyl printer, CNC milling and routing machines, soldering stations, a sublimation print station and press, embroidery and sewing machines, an electronic cutter, an engraver, a UV printer, an audio recording studio, hand tools and safety gear.”

Scheerer said she used the possibilities the Maker Lab will present to the public as inspiration for her mural.

“I had a lot of freedom to do what I wanted to do,” she said. “It was just keeping with the theme of makerspaces and STEM and that kind of thing, and then go from there.”

Scheerer started the project in November of 2022 and kept track of how long it took her to finish. All told, the project clocked in at 162 hours.

“Most weekends I would come in, a lot of times after school,” Scheerer said. “Whenever I could, really.”

At Monday’s ribbon cutting and grand opening, Scheerer said she was excited for everyone to finally be able to see what she’s been working on so diligently for the past five months.

“I am relieved that it’s done,” she said. “I’m very proud of what I’ve done. I like how it turned out. It’s definitely the biggest project I’ve ever done, but I’m super happy with how it turned out.”

Scheerer said she particularly enjoyed doing such an immense art project for a space that will continue to foster art and creativity for generations to come.

“It’s really cool,” she said. “It’s a cool space to be doing art for, and it’s cool that I was chosen.”