Since 2021, Mars Landing Galleries has been a standout gallery for the works of over 35 visual artists living and working in and around Western North Carolina. As a clear destination for art enthusiasts along with a newly expanding arts program, Mars Landing Arts Center (MLAC) will debut in 2026. Encompassing 9000 SF, MLAC will host art exhibits, performances, film screenings, workshops, as well as provide flexible studio work spaces for artists.
Originally built in 1945 as a roller skating rink, the building boasts beautifully restored original Southern Maple hardwood floors, high exposed-wood ceilings, and a scenic location nestled one block off the historic Main Street of Mars Hill, NC. Nestled between the Blue Ridge and Smoky Mountains, Mars Hill is enveloped by rolling hills, picturesque old tobacco barns, pastures, flower farms, hiking trails, and is home to the Bailey Mountain Preserve.
Mars Landing Galleries was initially conceived by Miryam Rojas, a Peruvian-American originally from Rye, New York.
As a child, Rojas eagerly read monthly Architectural Digest magazines cover to cover, accompanied her father to art & antique auctions, and aspired to be an interior designer. By the age of 14, Rojas taught herself to interpret blueprints as the family renovated a 1924 Mediterranean Revival home. By the time she earned a B.A. with a Dual Major in Art History and Fine Arts from The George Washington University, Rojas had already interned in New York at a television network, production company, and museum, and at an art gallery, a travel magazine, and a prominent designer fabric showroom in Washington, DC.
Lured down the coast after college, Rojas arrived in Miami and spent over 16 years freelancing as an Art Director and Set Decorator in South Florida's Television and Film industry. Alongside that career, she found a deep love for real estate renovation and rehabilitating properties with a community-minded approach.
Western North Carolina was an immediate draw for Rojas due, in part, to what she found were such collaborative and creative communities. Although it seemed to her that there was a need for more art galleries due to the vast amount of regional artists in the region. Rojas imagined that Mars Hill, perfectly situated close to Asheville and among incredible arts communities, such as Toe River, Marshall, Weaverville, and Penland, could be a pivotal destination for both art enthusiasts and artists alike. In July 2021, Mars Landing Galleries was born.