Name: Mark Ruschman
Job: Coordinator of the IDADA Art Pavilion (idadaartpavilion.com)
What that means: One of the founders of the Indianapolis Downtown Artists and Dealers Association, Ruschman is in charge of the organization’s Super Bowl-themed art pavilion that kicks off Jan. 14 in the old City Hall building. Twenty local artists will exhibit work there in a show called TURF, and they’re currently creating the pieces off-site. Which leaves Ruschman to the bureaucracy and the challenges of readying a space that has been vacant for years. “We’re filing for a lot of permits,” he says. “And as you can imagine, the place needs a good cleaning.”
Point of view: No Super Bowl host city has tried something quite like the Art Pavilion, so Ruschman can only hope it will attract attention to the area’s artists and galleries—and that visitors won’t find the 1,700-yard walk from Lucas Oil Stadium prohibitive. “We want people to see it as very connected to the Village and the game,” he says. “It’s free, and we have a full-time restaurant in the space courtesy of the Skyline Club. We expect it to be very popular.”
Super Bowl champ prediction: “I have to go with the Green Bay Packers. I realize that’s the easy pick, but with all that’s going on right now, I can use some certainty in my life.”
