The library’s annual Maker-in-Residence program is an opportunity for local creatives to teach their craft to our members and to create a piece of art for the library. This program is generously funded by the Foundation for Indian Trails Public Library. Learn more about our previous Makers below.
2025 – Mary Beth Michaels
Mary Beth Michaels is a Buffalo Grove resident and taught for 17 years in District 21. An active member of the North Suburban Needle Arts Guild, Mary Beth has exhibited her quilts in various galleries. Mary Beth combines traditional sewing and quilting skills and her fine arts background to create mixed media collage quilts.
In the summer of 2025, Mary Beth Michaels taught three classes to our members focusing on various aspects of quilting. Members learned hand embroidering text, hand applique, and creating a quilt block. The groups spent a lot of time thinking about our community, what it means to them, and what they love about it. They used those discussions to inform the decisions they made about what kind of blocks to create for the quilt. Member’s resulting quilt squares were incorporated into a community quilt. It is now on display in the Muriel Lischett Reading Room.
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![Shannon Lee.]()
2024 – Shannon lee
Shannon Lee is an independent animator, visual artist and educator. Her films infuse science fiction, magical realism, and personal experiences through experimental narrative and animation techniques. Shannon’s animations have been featured in international film festivals and she currently teaches at Massachusetts College of Art and Design.
In the summer of 2024, Shannon worked with a group of about 10 members to create a stop-motion video for the library. This was done over three weeks, with one class per week. Members learned how to make 2D puppets with paper, including paper hinges, then animated them frame by frame. These animations were compiled into a final video, titled “We All Have a Story to Share”.
![Anastasia Sitnikov.]()
2023 – Anastasia Sitnikov
Anastasia is a sculptor by trade and has presented her art at many exhibitions including at the International Museum of Surgical Science, Harper College, Schaumburg Library and Gallery 400. She holds an MFA in Studio Arts from the University of Illinois at Chicago, as well as several other degrees.
In 2023, Anastasia completed a large-scale wall sculpture that used macrame to interweave visuals created by library members. The visuals, silhouetted in acrylic using the laser cutter, honor the memories of people who were voluntarily or involuntarily displaced. This piece is on display in the entrance to the Muriel Lischett Reading Room.
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