Tom Fruin wanted to make a public artwork that would pay homage to a common architectural feature of his Brooklyn neighborhood. For inspiration, all he had to do was look up.

“In New York, you see water towers everywhere. It’s this iconic structure,” says the artist, who works in whatever material fits his vision, from fabric to discarded glassine drug bags he’s picked up off the street.

Watertower, his 20-foot-high sculpture of steel and “stained glass” (actually salvaged plexiglass scraps), was erected in June and will grace the roof of his studio building in the Dumbo arts district for the next year. During the day it’s lit by the sun; at dusk, a programmed floodlight show begins, peaking at midnight.

The work brings a splash of kaleidoscopic color to the skyline, visible from the streets and from Manhattan across the river. “It’s not just for art lovers,” Fruin says. “It’s for everybody.”