Art and fashion collide as SaltLight Art set to join the Grand Central District
/After a three year hiatus, SaltLight Art returns to downtown St. Petersburg in an all-new spot at 1916 Central Avenue in the Grand Central District | St. Pete Rising
A new incarnation of SaltLight Art, a women’s boutique with plenty of artistic flair, will open in October at 1916 Central Avenue, at the eastern end of the Grand Central District.
The shop will carry a huge selection of products, such as bracelets, necklaces, earrings, rings, and artwork, created by artist and designer Mary Long, who co-owns SaltLight Art with her husband, William. The boutique will also offer clothing, bags, shoes, and gifts.
The couple aren’t from St. Petersburg originally but got to know the city well because their daughter graduated from Eckerd College. In an interview with St. Pete Rising, Long said the plight of the city’s homeless population inspired them to move to St. Pete in 2015.
“We are heartbroken for the homeless here,” she said. “That’s what brought us to St. Pete. We gave up our careers; we left everything to come here to start a homeless outreach.”
The shop will carry a huge selection of products, such as bracelets, necklaces, earrings, rings, and artwork, created by artist and designer Mary Long, who co-owns SaltLight Art with her husband, William | SaltLight Art
Their homeless outreach service was called William & Mary, and Long funded it with money she earned from sales of her handcrafted jewelry, while her husband supported the family via a full-time day job. Making artistic jewelry and fashion accessories, she added, served the dual purpose of being a “creative outlet” for her.
“I literally was working the streets like five or six days a week,” Long said. “My husband works for Duke Energy, but when we moved here, we were planning to just do the homeless thing. And then I was freaking out, because, you know, somebody has to have a job. I didn’t know how this was going to work.”
Over the years, Long worked tirelessly to help the unhoused in our community, handing out thousands of what she called “blessing bags” to people in need of food and basic necessities.
“I went to different areas and had lots of homeless people and just was like, ‘Hey, guys, what do you need? What can I help you with?’ And so, many homeless people here know me just like most of the people in the art community and business community as well, which is really a cool thing.”
SaltLight Art debuts this October at 1916 Central Avenue in the Grand Central District | SaltLight Art
Long would go on to open SaltLight Art as a brick-and-mortar business but shut it down after the pandemic hit in 2020, citing burnout.
“It just got too much for me,” she said. “The heartbreak of what I was doing. Anybody who does any kind of social service work needs time off … it was hard, and I was depressed. I needed a break and wanted to just focus on my family.”
During the past few years, however, Long continued to make art and fashion and sell it via an ecommerce website.
“It’s not like we closed our brick-and-mortar and it just died,” she said. “I have continued to do a big business. We’ve just done it online.”
With the new version of SaltLight Art, Long said, “I’m coming back at a whole new price point.”
She explained, “There are a couple reasons for that: Obviously, prices are a little bit higher now than they were pre-COVID. Also, my jewelry has changed. Because I've had so much time to focus on my art, my jewelry has totally evolved into a whole other beast and it's bringing a lot higher price. I’m still going to have reasonably priced things but we also are going to have some more exclusive and higher-end things. I'm super excited.”
SaltLight Art will offer a selection of bracelets, necklaces, earrings, rings, and artwork by Mary Long, a local artist and owner of SaltLight Art | SaltLight Art
In addition to Long’s handcrafted products, SaltLight Art will carry bags and shoes made by Bed|Stu, a high-end leather goods brand.
In preparation for SaltLight’s October debut, a colorful mural was recently painted on the new storefront at 1916 Central Avenue by local artist Michelle Sasha of ArtFluent Creatives with assistance from Christianna and Shiyenne Alora. The mural depicts an octopus tucked in a corner wrapping its tentacles around the building and spilling onto the sidewalk and awning.
“We’ve got some exciting things are going to make us look and feel different than the last store,” Long said, “but at the same time, because I know who I am and I know who my staff is, I know people are going to walk in and they're going to feel the love. They're going to feel welcome. They're going to get the best customer service in town. That's not going to change.”
Jenna Malowany of KW Commercial represented SaltLight Art in the lease transaction.
For more information and updates, follow SaltLight Art on Instagram.
