A motorcycle rumbles past Mars Pizza just as the streetlights flicker along Grand Avenue. Most evenings, that’s the soundtrack of this one-stoplight town: pickup trucks idling, pizza boxes being carried to backseats, neighbors calling across the street.
But just to the right of the familiar glow of the pizza shop, something unexpected is happening.
Beneath a sign that reads Masterpiece Creations Art Gallery, color spills through the windows like stained glass at dusk. Thick swirls of lavender and burnt orange dance across oil paintings inside. Glass lights glitter. Bright canvases lean against every wall like old friends waiting to be introduced.
And in the back — past the easels and sculptures — there’s a stage. That’s where, once a week, a six – nine-piece band called The Pyramid Incident plugs in guitars, fires up three saxophones, and fills the gallery with 70s psychedelic rock. One moment the space feels like a gallery. The next — like a speakeasy designed by Vincent van Gogh and Jim Morrison.
This is the vision — and the creation — of artist Dina Russo.
“I’m Van Gogh reincarnated. Van Gogh with a dress.”
Russo laughs when she says it, but she means it.
“I’ve known since I was a little girl — the moment I could hold a pencil — that I was supposed to be an artist,” she says. “People told me I’d be a starving artist. I tried to do the practical thing. But you can’t suppress what God puts in you.”
She spent 25 years working her way up in the print and label industry — from paste-up artist to creative director to pre-press manager. Then one day, she was let go.
“After 25 years, I didn’t even know who I was without that job,” she says. “But losing it forced me to finally honor the gift I’d been given.”
She always painted during this time, but decided it was finally time to pursue her talent in a more serious way. Hosting pop-up shows. Then came an unexpected invitation from Mars Pizza owner Mike Porreca, whom she had met through a Christian business group.
“He said, ‘I’ve got an empty space next to the shop. Want to turn it into a gallery?’” Russo recalls. “I said, ‘Who wouldn’t?’”
What began as a practical solution evolved into one of the most unexpected and talked-about partnerships in town: pizza, art, and live music under one roof.
“Is it a natural fit? I’m not sure,” Porreca laughs. “But it’s working. People come for pizza and stay for the paintings—or they come for the art and discover our food.”
Part gallery. Part club. Part revival.
Six months later, Masterpiece Creations Art Gallery is not just the first of its kind in Mars — it’s becoming a movement.
Russo calls it a “night gallery” — a place where art hangs proudly by day, and live music, movie nights, book readings, comedians, and community connection take over by night.
“There’s nothing else like it around here,” she says. “We’re bringing people back together — away from their phones and into real experiences.”
And the town has noticed.
“When people walk in, they say, ‘We’re so glad you’re here. We needed this.’”
“Art changes communities. That’s what we’re doing here.”
Russo dreams big. She doesn’t just want to own a gallery — she wants to revitalize Main Street, one canvas and guitar solo at a time.
“Every great town’s complete transformation starts with art,” she says. “First comes creativity. Then coffee shops. Boutiques. Energy. It starts here.”
She even sees the idea going beyond Mars.
“I see this as a franchise someday — night galleries in small towns across the country.”
For now, she’s right where she wants to be: painting during the evening by the front window — and dancing between easels when the saxophones kick in.
The Soundtrack of the Gallery: Meet Russ “Sir Sosimo” Cersosimo
If Dina’s knife strokes are the soul of the gallery, then Russ Cersosimo’s voice is its heartbeat. The lead singer of The Pyramid Incident is equal parts frontman, entrepreneur, and provocateur.
“We started the band right as COVID hit,” he recalls. Since then, the group has become a Pittsburgh favorite — earning second-best cover band honors, playing Stage AE twice, and working on an album of originals. Their specialty: the most demanding psychedelic and classic rock of the 70s — Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, Santana, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Joe Cocker.
For Cersosimo, the gallery is more than just a rehearsal space. “When we play here, it sounds like Nashville or New Orleans spilling into the streets of Mars,” he says. Crowds of 25–30 people now gather for shows, forming what he calls a ‘hometown crew.’
He sees art and music as inseparable. “Art is layers of color. Music is layers of sound. Both come from the soul.”
And just like Dina, his vision goes beyond performance: “My thing is bringing people together and spreading good vibes. That’s what this place does.”
Want to experience it for yourself?
Masterpiece Creations Art Gallery — 129 Grand Avenue, Mars, PA
Open daily. Psychedelic rock on the first Friday of the month. Bring your curiosity.
