Correspondent photo / Gary S. Angelo Melanie Bolevich has an eclectic mix of merchandise at her property on Bell Wick Road in Hubbard, s antiques from the 1930s and ’40s, vintage doll parts, antique Halloween and Christmas decorations, sculptures and more.

HUBBARD — Melanie Bolevich is the type of artist who makes her living and art space her creative atmospheric muse.

She named her art space Club Troy after the late local artist Scott Pergande’s “Boys of Troy” relief sculpture that was inspired by the ancient soldiers in the Trojan War.

Bolevich owns two barns and three garage bays on Bell Wick Road filled with antiques from the 1930s and ’40s, vintage doll parts, antique Halloween and Christmas decorations, sculptures, Catholic statues and crosses, furniture, lamps, ornate objects, Victorian items and pieces from numerous local artists.

Bolevich’s space also is filled with her own artwork that consists of metal and wire 3D sculptures, candelabras, photography and numerous repurposed pieces made from recycled materials.

“I think I always appreciated artwork. I had a lot of experiences with art while attending Jackson Elementary School and Adams Middle School in Youngstown. So I discovered art in my formative years before I attended Woodrow Wilson High School. My mother was very artistic, and when I was a child, she would always draw things for me such as funny faced figures to keep me occupied all of the time. I was also exposed to a lot of the arts in Youngstown, which had excellent programs when I was growing up,” Bolevich said.

As an artist who has a knack for sculpture and repurposing, Bolevich loves working with wires and metals. She is working on a sculpture of a skeleton made out of wire with wings like an armature. Bolevich said this sculpture will be displayed in the secret garden on her property. A cherry tree fell in Bolevich’s yard, so she made rustic sculptures out of the cherry tree branches.

“Some artists who inspire me include Pergande, Gail Trunick (of Burghill), Marnie Weber, Andy Warhol, H.R. Giger, and all of the artists who have had exhibits at the Mattress Factory in Pittsburgh, especially the artists who had 3D installations. I create more 3D sculptural works or art made with wire, metal and recycled materials. I also find materials out in nature and incorporate those into my sculptures. Over the years, I have experimented with welding, and I like making welded candelabras made from various metal fragments, car parts and random metal pieces that I find,” Bolevich said.

Bolevich is originally from Youngstown. Her father , Alexander Bolevich, has family from Yugoslavia (today called Serbia and Montenegro). Bolevich’s grandfather, Arso Bolevich, is from Yugoslavia and has donated land for Holy Trinity Serbian Orthodox Church on Laird Avenue in Youngstown. Her mother, Rosemary Bolevich, was born in Jamestown, Pa., but lived in Youngstown most of her life.

Bolevich is an investigative agent for North East Ohio Network, which Bolevich said is a regional council of governments that provides services to people with disabilities.

“It’s an honor to work with individuals to provide a service to ensure their health and safety. I am not formally trained as an artist. It was a hard decision for me not to go to college for art. I wanted to have a career. I attended Youngstown State University, where I earned a Bachelor of Science in education. I also worked in medical technology for three years. I was working at Youngstown Developmental Center while I was going to college. That is how I was exposed to working with people with disabilities. I enjoyed the work and helping people. This became a lifelong career for me,” Bolevich said.

For Bolevich, art is a retreat and a passion. She said it gives her joy and peace when she is making rustic pieces of art out of wood, metals and wire. She will even take a piece of furniture, deconstruct it and use it for a new art piece.

“I save finials, spindles and different pieces from furniture. I always had an appreciation for art and being from Youngstown, you are exposed to the arts everywhere. I remember meeting local artist Scott Pergande in Youngstown and he was selling his clay masks. We are so lucky here in Youngstown to have Scott Pergande in our lives,” Bolevich said. “His art is still very popular today. He helped put the decorative touches on my art space, Club Troy. You could really feel Pergande’s presence here. I have a lot of Pergande’s clay sculptures in my space that were originally displayed in the former Cedar’s Lounge location in downtown Youngstown,” Bolevich said.

In addition to 3D sculptures, Bolevich is into photographing antique baby doll heads. She got into collecting old doll parts when she went to an auction where an older man who was a doll maker was going out of business. Bolevich said the older man was selling all of his doll parts.

“I bought five or six boxes of doll parts. I was selling antiques at the time at Brookfield Antique Mart and I was able to get three complete dolls out of these boxes. I had all of these doll parts, boxes of legs and heads. That is how I got into photographing dolls. One of my baby doll photographs is at the Royal Oaks (on the East Side) and appeared in the film, ‘Awoken,'” Bolevich said.

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