About MARS
MARS offers both an overnight artists residency program for literary and visual creators, as well as public art activities in and beyond Mineral, a logging and fishing town near Mt. Rainier.
How it started: From 2015 to 2025, we operated as Mineral School and hosted artist residents at the former Mineral Elementary.
How it’s going: In 2025, we bought the former Mineral Presbyterian Church as a place to center arts activity in town, both for visiting artists and local folks.
What’s next: In 2024, we began hosting artists at the Mineral Lake Lodge, which has the best view of Mt. Rainier in town — not to mention visual art workspace and several ghosts. In 2026, we permanently redirected residents to the lodge.
History of MARS
From 2015 to 2025, we operated as Mineral School, hosting juried artist residencies in classrooms we converted into studios in the former Mineral Elementary School and holding public events ranging from visits by Washington State Poet Laureates to a queer prom with Lewis County Dignity Guild in its multipurpose room. We also held arts and crafts fairs and dance activities in the school gym. An artist-founded organization, volunteers helped paint, wax floors, landscape, pressure-wash, haul things, swing hammers, and make magic so that the school could serve as a pleasant home for artists from North America and beyond, all of it beneath the shadow of Mt. Rainier. Local Mineralite Gary Johnson also contributed considerable time helping in dozens of ways, including general contracting projects such as flooring, overseeing installation of showers and kitchen appliances and the big six-burner, as well as offering sage advice for troubleshooting many problems.
Between 2024 and 2026, we entered our organizational adolescence. We graduated from fiscal sponsorship with arts facilitator Shunpike and gained our 501c3 status. In 2024 and 2025, we also started hosting artists at historic Mineral Lake Lodge in preparation for our 2026 graduation from the school.
In late 2025, we bought the former Mineral Presbyterian Church as a multipurpose space for arts gatherings (UFO Club meets twice a month!) and workshops, and several additional ideas we’re still sorting out how to deliver. We’re divided on whether or not to call this space MARS World HQ or MARS Landing Site. Either way, we welcome all terrestrials!
From September 2026 onward, we’ll bunk future artist residents at Mineral Lake Lodge and other area lodgings, offering them work space there as well as at the church, depending on their craft and preferences.
It’s been a long and winding (s)hero’s journey to establish our place in space, with a few character(s) forming bumps in the road. We’ve gotten to know the welcoming community in Mineral and nearby towns of Morton, Ashford, and Eatonville. And we’ve established friendly relations with frisky ghosts who hide keys, hijack music playlists, flip lights, and ring bells.
Where is Mineral?
Mineral, Washington, is a bucolic lake town known for its rich history of logging and mining, yet less than two hours from Seattle and Portland and just a few minutes from the Nisqually (Ashford) entrance to Mt. Rainier National Park. Mt. Rainier towers over Mineral Lake, reminding residents and visitors that nature is in charge here — both in the form of the volcanic mountain and the Gifford Pinchot National Forest surrounding the area.
Between April and October, fishing season is in full swing and RVs dot the campground along the lake which is stocked with trout and warm enough for seasonal swimming or non-motorized boating. While the town once boasted 4,000 residents, today there are fewer than 200.
While the population has shrunk, the history hasn’t: Mineral is home to the smallest U.S. post officeand a historic B&B.They say this is the town above which pilot Kenneth Arnold spotted a UFO in 1947. The Mt. Rainier Scenic Railroad operates its steam train museum and rail cycle lines in Mineral, and along “downtown” Front Street you can shop at Mineral Market, grab a beer at The Headquarters, visit The Mineral Lake Lion Club and its campground, or round the corner to the post office and also: our office (across from the post office). We are getting some cool new neighbors: The YMCA of Greater Seattle is developing its first new camp in more than a century along the lake, opening the outdoors to children throughout the state and also sharing the space with the Nisqually Indian Tribe.
