Today we’d like to introduce you to Julie Anna Sailus.
Julie Anna, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Julie Sailus entered Detroit’s public art scene in 2015, in the raw, formative years of Murals in the Market in Eastern Market — before the murals became Instagram backdrops and before the city’s art resurgence was packaged and branded. She was there when walls were still risks. When public art felt experimental. When scale, permission, and possibility were still being negotiated.
That moment shaped her.
Working inside the early growth of Detroit’s mural movement, Sailus saw how art could disrupt space, shift narrative, and reintroduce pride into overlooked neighborhoods. What started as proximity quickly became purpose.
From there, she moved into the startup world — blending events, hospitality, and placemaking — helping build cultural ecosystems inside developing spaces. Her instinct to connect artists, entrepreneurs, and communities led naturally into curatorial work, where she began shaping not just events, but visual identity.
In 2021, she formalized that work by launching Disco Walls — a creative consulting and mural production agency focused on exhibitions, large-scale installations, and art-forward programming. Since then, she has curated and installed work by artists not only from Detroit, but from across Michigan, the Midwest, and internationally — building bridges between local culture and global creative dialogue.
Her work lives at the intersection of logistics and vision: managing lifts and installs one day, negotiating partnerships the next, always with an eye toward impact. Murals. Exhibitions. Cultural activations. Community-rooted art that doesn’t feel temporary — even when it is.
Travel continues to shape her lens. From international festivals to global street art gatherings, Sailus studies how cities use art as infrastructure — how walls become voice, how scale creates access, how public art can challenge systems while beautifying blocks.
Still, Detroit remains her anchor.
Today, she continues to curate, install, and activate spaces with a belief that public art isn’t decoration — its declaration.
Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way. Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Building Disco Walls hasn’t been without its challenges. Launching and sustaining a self-funded creative business in the public art and mural space requires constant reinvestment — from equipment and insurance to lift rentals and installation costs — often long before payment cycles close. Fluctuating economic conditions have also directly impacted project budgets, sponsorship dollars, and discretionary arts spending, requiring flexibility and strategic planning to keep projects moving forward. As a woman operating in a field that remains largely male-dominated, earning credibility and access to larger-scale opportunities has at times required additional persistence. Still, those challenges are met with a strong, collaborative creative community — one that continues to share resources, build partnerships, and create opportunity through collective support.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know about your work?
I build art experiences that move beyond the wall. As the founder of Disco Walls, I curate and produce not only large-scale public murals, but also recurring exhibitions and cultural programming that take place multiple times throughout the year. My work activates neighborhoods and strengthens cultural identity — from involvement with the Chinatown Detroit District and neighborhood art initiatives, to producing Diwali in the D, programming around Nain Rouge in Detroit, and contributing to the Hamtramck Labor Day Parade. I also maintain strong ties within Detroit’s soccer community, integrating sport, culture, and creative placemaking through leagues, collaborations, and community-driven events. I bridge vision and operations — managing everything from artist selection and exhibition design to lift logistics, installation, and partnership development. I’ve worked with artists from Detroit, across Michigan, the Midwest, and internationally, creating platforms that elevate both emerging and established voices. What I’m most proud of is building a self-funded creative practice rooted in collaboration, resilience, and the belief that public art and exhibitions are not decoration — they are infrastructure for culture.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
Detroit is a city that feels alive with layered identity. What I love most is its diversity — not just culturally, but creatively. Art here doesn’t feel decorative; it feels necessary. Murals rise out of brick walls like declarations. Music leaks out of basements and warehouses. Food carries generational stories. There’s a rawness and honesty to Detroit’s creative scene that makes experimentation possible and collaboration feel natural. You can feel the overlap between art, music, sport, activism, and entrepreneurship — it’s porous in the best way.
At the same time, the city’s physical landscape shapes how art is experienced. The lack of reliable public transportation makes access uneven. Walkability can vary dramatically from neighborhood to neighborhood, changing how people encounter public art and cultural programming. And while the creative energy is undeniable, sustained funding for community-based arts projects often lags behind the talent and ideas on the ground.
But in many ways, that tension fuels the work. Detroit artists have always built with what’s available — adapting, collaborating, self-producing. The city’s creative ecosystem isn’t polished; it’s persistent. And that persistence is part of what makes Detroit’s art scene so powerful.
Pricing:
- $50 / hr Consult (2 hour minimum)
Contact Info:
- Website: https://linktr.ee/discowallscreative
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/discowalls?igsh=MXh4bjBwaWx4emd5bA%3D%3D&utm_source=qr
