After almost 25 years as one of the leading independent fine art galleries in Indianapolis, Ruschman Art Gallery will close its doors next month.

“Things have been tough for a while,” said owner Mark Ruschman. “This is just kind of a culmination of the past year and the economic downturn, and the fact that individual collectors and buyers are not buying as much art.”

Ruschman, who is a founding member and past president of the Indianapolis Downtown Artists&Dealers Association — which hosts the city’s monthly First Friday gallery walks — said his final First Friday opening will be July 3; the gallery will close July 31.

For the past three days, Ruschman has been visiting and calling the roughly 50 artists he represents to tell them the news.

Mary Lou Dooley Waller, Indianapolis, is one of those artists. Ruschman has represented the painter since she came to the city 20 years ago.

“I am so very, very sorry,” Waller said. “Not only has Mark done a great job of running the gallery, but I said to him the other day that I think he’s been a community organizer.”

Casey Ailes, gallery coordinator at Dean Johnson Gallery on Massachusetts Avenue, said Ruschman has been an “icon” in Indianapolis.

“Just the other day, someone kept quoting that he was ‘the Godfather’ of art in Indianapolis,” Ailes said, “because if you have a question, you call him.”

Greg Lucas, owner of GC Lucas Gallery, also on Mass Ave., said the arts community is losing “a leader and a pioneer.”

“The thing about an art community is that seeing good art begets good art,” Lucas said. “Mark will be sorely missed.”

Ruschman, who studied art at Indiana University, said he has no definite plans for the future, although he’s working on a number of projects. Artists he represents are working on commissions, including a sizable public art installation in Lincoln, Neb. — one of many contracts that will help carry him through the first of the year.

As for the works in his gallery, Ruschman said: “Sometime in July we will be having a gallery sale. It’s not an everything-must-go sale, but I do have a large inventory.”