Great Falls artist Jon Fisher stepped back a few feet, examining his creation with a critical eye. “It’s a lot higher than my usual structures,” he said as he stepped around the three slender and colorful pillars making up the wooden sculpture. “The tallest one measured out at ten feet exactly.”

Fisher, a sculptor known for his complex and vibrant wooden assemblages, has just unveiled his latest commissioned work outside the TD Bank of Great Falls, which is sponsoring this year’s Tour (Oct.19-21) as part of its community outreach program.

“We believe that this installation will help bring recognition to Great Falls as a thriving arts locale,” said Joanna Mason, TD Bank Vice President of U.S. Field Marketing Strategy.

“Being artists, we wanted to bring public attention to the Studio Tour in an artistic way, rather than just hang out a big sign,” said Linda Jones, President of Great Falls Studios. “And TD Bank was very kind to help us do that by commissioning this sculpture by Jon. They have been a big supporter of the arts in Great Falls.”

The Tour, which opens artist studios all over Great Falls, is now in its 16th year. Laura Nichols, founder of Great Falls Studios and many of the artists participating in the tour attended the unveiling.

“This shows the happy result when you give an artist a mission,” Nichols said. “Jon blended content, design and color using his carpentry, engineering and architectural skills to achieve a significant sculpture.”

“The design has two functions,” Fisher said. “We wanted to promote the tour, of course, but we also wanted to symbolize the generous support from TD Bank. We’re doing that by its location at the bank and the use of the signature green color of the bank’s logo.”

The sculpture will remain outside the bank building, located at the intersection of Walker Road and Georgetown Pike, from now through the weekend of Oct.19-21, the dates of the Studio Tour.

“We will be interested to see if sculpture becomes an example of ‘Interactive Art,’ with people taking selfies and posting them on social media. Anyone with an Instagram account is invited to include “@greatfallsstudios” in their post and we will re-post the best ones, said Begoña Morton, who manages the group’s Instagram feed.

Established in 2003, Great Falls Studios is an organization of more than 100 artists working in Great Falls and operators of the annual Great Falls Studio Tour each October. The Tour is free and open to the public, enabling visitors to meet artists “in their element” and to speak with them about their work.