By CONNIE COUSINS – Centre County Gazette

BELLEFONTE — The Bellefonte Art Museum’s “See-Scape,” a painted aluminum and stainless steel suspended sculpture by Talley Fisher, was a major attraction during the recent Art Alliance of Central Pennsylvania’s “Fall Colors 2015 Studio Tour.” The tour, which featured 18 venues, was held Oct. 17 and 18. The Bellefonte museum presented 23 local artists in its galleries.

According to the museum’s press release, “See-Scape” is “a playful work, with feelings and sensations much like a Chagall painting. Fantastic mirrored forms swim and float effortlessly in a light-filled space.”

I could not have described it any better than these image-evoking words. Some viewers were reminded of leaves, others of fish, as they studied the suspended sculpture. Most fascinating to me was the different emotions evoked as I viewed the artwork from all sides, above and below.

The story behind the environmental hanging art is interesting and moving. Rob Fisher, the artist’s father, moved to Bellefonte in 1974 where he established his studio, Rob Fisher Sculptures LLC. He and his wife, True, lived in and raised their two children, Brett and Talley, in the town. In 1988, Rob created a “See-Scape” for a stairwell at Park Cardiographics Headquarters in Taunton, Mass. When he died suddenly in 2006, Rob left behind sculptures both in the United States and abroad. Seven important commissions, coming at the height of his career, remained unfinished, including pieces for airports, medical facilities and an office.

Talley, at the time of her father’s death, was already working with him on a project at the Las Vegas Airport. She had received her master’s degree in landscape architecture and was home job hunting and helping her father, as she had done many times before. Not being able to tolerate having her father’s works be uncompleted, she stepped in to finish the designs, engineer, fabricate and install all seven suspended sculptures.

From the desire to finish her father’s work, a new career sprouted. Her reputation has grown and she now has commissions across the United States and abroad.

Rob Fisher designed and fabricated the elements of this new “See-Scape,” but it is definitely a collaborative effort between father and daughter. Talley gathered the pieces of the metal sculpture that had hung in the building in Taunton and recreated a smaller version that reflects both Rob’s talents and her own unique style.

Coming up on Sunday, Nov. 1, the Bellefonte Art Museum will hold an opening reception and a free art class, as they do on the first Sunday of each month. Most shows change monthly.

The “Journey to the Golden Fleece,” the fiber artist show, will continue through November. An interesting fact about weavers is that there is a network that includes countries all over the world. The show that executive director Pat House created this time is one that brought together gatherers who form the fiber works from spinning the yarn to the finished product.

Also, on Friday, Oct. 30, and running through November, jewelry artist Genevieve Williamson

will be featured in the Jewelry Gallery.

The Bellefonte Art Museum is open Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays from 1 p.m. to 4:30 p.m