A new business in downtown Manitowoc officially broke open its doors this week.
Glass was spraying around the smash room at the CRusched Smash and Arts studio owned by Christma Rusch, as she and her partner Cliff welcomed the public in for tours and a ribbon cutting.
On top of the always entertaining smash room, where guests can take a variety of weapons to, glasses, TVs, boxes, or whatever else is on hand, CRusched also hosts a splatter art room.
Rusch tells Seehafer News that they opened the business as a way to help people struggling with their mental health and to vent their frustrations in a controlled, healthy way.
“We create a safe space, we provide protective gear, we provide the different tools that you can use to smash the items, or you can just throw the glass,” she explained. “Either way, you are energetically going to release some things in there, and then we clean up the mess.”
And that business model has already paid off.
“One of the first people to walk through was somebody who came our first week,” Rusch revealed. “She was just trying to process and let go of some stuff, and it was super cool to see people come back and feel good about the space.”
Rusch also explained that the idea of her and her partner opening a smash room has been in the works for a while.
“The vision came in July of 2022,” she explained. “We looked at another building next to Beernsten’s and it didn’t work out so it just kind of prolonged, so it took about a year.”
Though CRusched isn’t the first business Rusch has operated, Christma and Cliff also founded the Lighthouse Recovery Community Center.
While she is not completely stepping away from Lighthouse, Rusch did say she is stepping away from her day to day duties.
CRushed is located at the corner of North 10th Street and York Avenue in Manitowoc and will be open Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays or weekdays by appointment.
