Muralist Mila Sketch Celebrates a Decade of Creativity in Austin

You’ve likely seen Mila Sketch’s artwork all throughout Austin without noticing it. A colorful cityscape, which she painted in 210 hours over three weeks, adorns the walls in the Austin Chamber of Commerce, while a futuristic mini mural combines abstract shapes, circuits, and the feminist tagline “The Future Is Female” on the corner of South Lakeshore and South Pleasant Valley.

The artist has been quietly transforming Austin’s public art scene with her bold, intricate murals and innovative fine art since she arrived here from Russia in 2014.

“Austin felt like home from the moment I arrived,” Sketch says. “The city’s energy, diversity, and openness gave me the space to push my art further than I ever imagined. We feel privileged to live and work here.”

This year, she celebrates a decade of creative contributions to the city with a landmark pop-up exhibition hosted by West Chelsea Contemporary from April 24 to 26. The event marks not only a major career milestone but also a rare solo showcase highlighting her evolution as an artist.

Her artistic footprint spans from Dubai and London to France, with large-scale murals decorating international skylines and buildings right here in the capital city. However, her talent doesn’t start and stop with murals. Sketch’s work also includes fine art pieces that blend urban architecture with organic elements.

Recently, she was commissioned to create a mural inside Visit Austin’s new headquarters at the restored Phillips Building on East Fifth. She calls this project, which was revealed at a grand opening on March 17, a perfect anniversary gift.

“It’s such a full-circle moment,” she shares. “I’ve always followed their updates and events, and now my work will welcome visitors to this incredible city. And it’s in a really cool, historical building. I love that.”

Where It All Began

Born in 1985 in Murmansk, a fishing town on the Barents Sea, Sketch showed an early affinity for art. Even as a child, she had an eye for detail and was often found daydreaming and sketching.

The cold, rugged beauty of northern Russia deeply influenced her early works, inspiring a fascination with the interplay between man-made structures and organic elements – something that still defines her art today.

“Pointillism and monochrome style came to me in childhood,” she says. “It’s very polar nights and polar days where I grew up. Very black skies with the stars and the moon – or maybe more gray than black – but it was monochrome, and I thought that was beautiful.”

Sketch’s fearless nature emerged early. Growing up in a society that often discouraged creative careers, she had to fight for her artistic aspirations.

At just 7 years old, she secretly applied to an art institute without telling her parents. When her acceptance letter arrived, her mother was shocked and more than a little dubious, while her father, who is a chef, was hopeful.

“I was determined,” she recalls. “I didn’t ask for permission; I just knew I wanted to be an artist, so I was going to be one. I entered a regional art competition at 9, and my work Halt in the Arctic won a regional art award and is now permanently placed in the Murmansk Regional Art Museum.”

Sketch also drew artistic inspiration from Japanese contemporary artists, particularly those who combined fine art with pop culture elements.

“When I was younger, I saw a movie by the Japanese filmmaker Takeshi Kitano ... I can’t recall the name of the movie, but it was wonderful,” she shares. “He became one of my artistic heroes. I wanted to bring that same balance into my own work.”

To Global Recognition

Sketch’s signature style – vivid, surreal cityscapes infused with nature and technology – has earned her widespread acclaim. In 2021, she won readers’ awards from Austin Monthly and The Austin Chronicle, solidifying her place as one of the city’s most celebrated creatives.

“Winning those awards meant so much,” she says. “It wasn’t just about recognition; it was about feeling truly embraced by Austin’s art community.”

Her ability to blend intricate fine details with grand, sweeping compositions makes her work instantly recognizable.

“Mila’s art is like a living organism,” says Julia Dixon, her wife and manager. “Every piece has layers. She blends structure and chaos in a way that feels effortless but is actually meticulously planned.”

Gary Seals, owner and CEO of West Chelsea Contemporary, where Sketch is represented, recalls first encountering her work at Austin-Bergstrom.

“I fell in love with her work when I first walked through the airport,” he says. “Even before I met her, I fell in love with its vibrant colors and its unusual, kind of almost dystopian, look in contrast to nature. It’s just something completely different than anything else that we represent. It’s very detailed, a lot of bold colors.”

Dots and Technology

One of the most defining elements of Sketch’s work is her use of pointillism, a technique that involves creating an image through thousands of small dots of color. Unlike traditional brushstrokes, pointillism creates depth, texture, and movement in a way that feels almost alive.

“It’s meditative for me,” she explains. “Each line is intentional. It takes time, but the final result is always worth it.”

Her murals often showcase this meticulous approach, incorporating minute details into large-scale pieces. In addition to pointillism, she uses techniques such as layering, where she builds up multiple coats of color and texture to create a sense of depth. She also integrates geometric abstraction, a technique that balances precise architectural elements with organic, free-flowing forms.

She is always in search of Austin’s hidden gems to incorporate into her murals, such as her favorite ramen restaurant or the large rope and metal sphere structure found at Pease Park that she included in the Visit Austin mural. She hopes that these spots will encourage people to ask questions like “What’s that?” and “Where can I find it?”

Sketch’s fascination with technology has also influenced her technique. She incorporates augmented reality into her fine art and mural work, an innovative approach that allows viewers to interact with her pieces through digital elements.

“AR brings a whole new dimension to my art,” she says. “It transforms a static image into something immersive, and it’s just cool to look at the pieces through the app I created and see them come to life.”

Seals agrees that Sketch’s work is helping to define the trajectory of this particular space.

“I just think that she’s on the cutting edge of things,” he says. “There was this thing around NFTs a while back. There are all sorts of different directions with AI these days. I mean, some people are talking about putting digital mapping over her work now, so it will be interesting to see what happens in the future.”

A Lasting Impact on Austin

Sketch and Dixon decided to move to Austin on a whim without having visited the city before. After hearing about how inclusive the city is for the LGBTQIA community and artists, they packed up their belongings and their pit bull and made their way here.

“There has been a lot of personal growth for me as a person and as an artist,” Sketch shares. “When we moved here, there weren’t many artists working on pointillism techniques. Moving to Austin opened up a lot of new things for me to try, like murals.”

Dixon agrees that their timing was perfect. “We got here just as the movement of murals and the art painting on the street really took off,” she says. “There was an organization called SprATX, and Mila got in with them first. And you know, they had a lot of walls in town that she could use.”

The effortlessly cool artist, often seen wearing a flat-brimmed baseball cap and paint-splattered pants, is one of Austin’s most prolific muralists. She estimates she has painted at least one public mural, if not more, in the city every year she has lived here.

“I’ve lost count of how many murals I’ve done, but it’s a lot,” she says with a big smile. “I’ve been commissioned to paint several murals in people’s homes, as well as for public places. Not just in Austin, but all over the U.S.”

Most recently, her work can be seen in locations like the AC Hotel’s Violet Sky Rooftop Lounge, where she won a local artist competition, and in private commissions throughout the city. Her next mural will be displayed at a high-profile private residence Downtown, alongside work by renowned street artist RISK.

Winning the AC Hotel mural competition was a pivotal moment for the artist.

“The competition was really intense,” she recalls. “There were so many talented artists, I think at least eight, who entered, and to be chosen as the winner was really special to me.”

The Dell Children’s Foundation has also taken note of Sketch’s work.

“Mila is an exceptionally kind and generous human,” says Suellen Brown, Dell director of development. “Every year, she collaborates with our patients to create an art piece for our top donors, and her contributions have helped us raise over $1 million in the past five years.”

A Decade Celebration: The Landmark Exhibition

West Chelsea Contemporary’s April pop-up exhibition celebrates more than one occasion for Sketch.

“For me, it’s very exciting because it’s my birthday weekend,” she reveals. “I’ll be 40!”

The event not only applauds her journey but also offers a rare Sketch gallery exhibit highlighting her techniques outside of mural work.

“I would love to celebrate this day with everybody,” she says. “I love to be busy on my birthday, work, and meet people, where you can feel the vibe and rhythm of life.” She adds, “I would love to show that there are three directions in my artwork. One will be about nature ... It will be a flower. I don’t know exactly how it will look, as it’s still cooking in my brain. Then another artwork will be the cityscape of Austin because it’s the celebration of being in Austin for 10 years ... and the size of the artwork will be huge.”

In addition to the large-scale pieces she plans to showcase, Sketch hopes to have prints that incorporate AR components for people to purchase.

“I’ve never done an augmented reality Austin cityscape with so many details and fun facts about the city,” she says. “I will try my best to finish it and make it happen. Maybe I will show a couple of artworks on a small scale with antique frames. This will really show the people what I’ve been working on.”

Seals emphasizes the gallery’s commitment to bringing Sketch’s work to the forefront of Austin’s art scene.

“This show is about celebrating Mila,” he says. “We wanted to create something special that honors her decade of work and the impact she’s had on the city. We want to do everything that we can to support local artists and put them side by side with national artists as a way to support their career.”

The Future Is Bright

One of Sketch’s early memories of discovering the power of visual art was buying her first Beastie Boys record, Hello Nasty, which features cover art by the former Def Jam creative director, now fine artist, Cey Adams.

“I loved the artwork on that album cover,” she says. “And then I got to meet Cey at a WCC exhibit and show him some of my artwork. It was so crazy. I couldn’t believe it was happening.”

The two realized they had a lot in common and decided to pair up for a collaboration that will hopefully be showcased at the Clarksville gallery at the end of the year.

“I don’t know what their vision is,” Seals says. “They haven’t made me privy to that yet, but I can tell you, it will be amazing, I’m sure. Bringing in that caliber of artists, like Cey, and aligning them with local artists like Mila, who both have a very similar design background ... I think it speaks to the mission of WCC.”

In addition to her gallery and mural projects, Sketch is working on a digital art installation for Austin-Bergstrom International Airport.

“Airports are spaces of movement and transition,” she says. “I want to create something that reflects that energy.”

As she looks toward the next decade of her career, one thing is certain: Mila Sketch’s artistry will continue to leave an indelible mark on Austin and beyond.

“My art makes people think, explore, and feel deeply about the themes,” she says. “So many people and their communities have been impacted by my work, and I still have so much more to give.”

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West Chelsea Contemporary hosts a Mila Sketch pop-up exhibition from April 24-26.

10 Mila Sketch Murals To See Throughout Austin

Urban Nature (International Terminal) and TX Birds, Original (JetBlue Gate, International Terminal)
Austin Bergstrom Airport (3600 Presidential Blvd.)

Austin Vibe
Austin Chamber of Commerce (535 E. Fifth)

Downtown
Austin Downtown Alliance (515 Congress #2150)

People Plus Parks
Austin Parks Foundation (1023 Springdale Ste. 10-D)

ATX Portal
Austin Visitor Center (103 E. Fifth)

To Learn & to Remember
Austin Municipal Court (6800 Burleson, Bldg. 310, Ste. 175)

Godzilla in the Ramen City
VIP booth at Ramen Tatsu-Ya (1600 E. Sixth)

Violet Sky Rooftop Lounge Mural
AC Hotel Austin Hill Country (7415 Southwest Pkwy., Bldg. 8 #100)

The Future Is Female Mini Mural
(S. Lakeshore / S. Pleasant Valley Rd.)