Mary Long the culture maker

March 08, 2015 in Spaces, Art

I’m sitting across from the indomitable Mary Long, owner of Post Industrial Design, a shop full of bespoke gift, furniture and art treasures and a gallery and events space that has championed art and artists and helped change the cultural landscape of the west.

The first thing you notice about Mary is her uncontainable energy and wicked laugh. She’s delightfully devilish and has undeniable style. It feels as if she is from another era and yet is completely right for now.

Mary is a natural storyteller and descriptions of her childhood evoke a quintessential almost mythical Australia.

Her parents were driven from their cattle and sheep farm in Queensland thanks to severe drought and relocated to King Lake, Victoria with nothing.

Life was hard but full of adventure; rich with characters and unique experiences; the sort of beginning that forever gave her a steely resilience, an irreverent wit, an inability to suffer fools and the guts to give anything a go, a quality that only came into the fore a little later in life.

Mary says she was always an independent kid and enjoyed her own company, but became incredibly shy as a young woman and didn’t find ‘her groove’ until her mid 30’s.

“I overcame an almost debilitating shyness in my 20’s. If I liked anyone I’d go ‘hi name Mary’ everything would come out back to front,"

Since those early years as a shy young woman, Mary has taken on the world in a major way, both as a business owner, curator and creative collaborator.

When she and partner, sculptor and artist Jos Van Hulsen opened the doors of Post Industrial Design in West Footscray, a world of creativity and possibility spilled out onto the quieter end of Barkly Street and spread across the west and beyond.

“I wanted to create a place that made art accessible to everybody and not to be so formal in the way art is presented and present it in an incidental casual way.”

Mary fosters talent and supports artists by providing an exhibition space of carefully curated work.

She has to connect with and love the work she exhibits and is incredibly encouraging to the artist she works with.

"I’m all for creative collaborations, it's the most exciting part of my job.

I’m excited and flattered that artists would do something with me, but I would prefer to have no exhibitions if I don’t love it.

And that goes down to the products I stock in the shop – I have to love it. It has to connect with me in some way."

Mary is a natural collaborator and highly adaptable. She says she sits somewhere in the middle of creativity and business.

“I have the creative side that recognises something and I have a business side that recognises the contributions artists make to our community and economy.

I think that's so undervalued by most businesses.

I don’t think I’m necessarily a creative in the sense that I make things, but I am creative in the sense that I can make things happen. I see the skills of others and I bring people together.

I think I have a genuine love of people. I really thrive off conversation and interactions and I get excited by what people are doing.

It's the way we’ve structured the business."

Mary says opening a shop and creative space in the west was more a head than a heart decision.

“It was where we were bringing our kids up, it was our home and we just really wanted to invest in our local area and make something happen and we were tired of everyone talking and saying I wish something would start here and we thought fuck it we’ll do it ourselves.

It was also a chance to show their kids that it was important and possible to do what you love, but it’s not always easy juggling all the different parts of her life.

It was also a chance to show their kids that it was important and possible to do what you love, but it’s not always easy juggling all the different parts of her life.

“Work is my passion it’s what gets me going, I often wake up at 3am with ideas and as tired as you are, when you are passionate you find the space for it, but then that’s weighted by this sense of guilt for my family and not always being present.

If we are going to set any example to our children I would prefer to live our dream and do something we are passionate about rather than just clocking in for the money. I find that selling out a little bit and I wanted my kids to think they can do what they wanted to.

I’ll tell you in 20 years time if it paid off,” she laughs.

Like so many driven people, Mary advocates for just making a start and throwing yourself in the deep end.

“Just go for it. As big or ominous as a project may seem it's only made up of little menial tasks, it's just a matter of teasing something out and writing down each little step and each little step is easy.

Most things that happen – it’s not all rock and roll – it's the grunt.

If you look at the big picture and end result it can be overwhelming but just go backwards from there to work out what you need to achieve it. Just go for it,"

Mary Long, we of the west salute you!

Read about more creative women from Melbourne's west as part of Boundless: a project from Jessica Dean + Kim Aleksandrowicz for International Women's Day.

words Jessica Dean + pictures Kim Aleksandrowicz