Greg Lucas will be the second fine art gallery owner in Indianapolis to close shop this year.

Lucas announced Tuesday that he will close his gallery at 884 Massachusetts Ave. by year’s end. He will follow longtime gallery owner Mark Ruschman in exiting the business, which has been hard hit by the recession. The Ruschman Gallery on Alabama Avenue closed at the end of July after 25 years in business.

"There just isn't enough business to sustain the overhead," Lucas said.

G.C. Lucas Gallery, which opened in November 1994, represents a mix of traditional and contemporary artists. Lucas said he has a strong base of collectors in Indianapolis and will try to organize small private showings. He also plans to launch a Web site, gclucasgallery.com, next month. He will continue to represent several artists, including Karen Chevalier-Smith, Lorraine Sack and Red Rohall.

Lucas also is the representative of the estates of Hoosier Group artists William Forsyth, Constance Forsyth and Robert Selby.

The gallery is currently hosting a solo show by Sack and will open a new show in December with etchings and paintings by Montana artists Nick Oberling and Jennifer Li.

Lucas said he also has struggled to attract traffic at the east end of Mass. Ave. since this summer, when a Cultural Trail contractor put up traffic barriers.

A sale on all merchandise is under way and will continue until the gallery closes.