Levittown native Michael Alfano had no formal schooling or training when he decided to become a sculptor.

"It actually started as a bet. A friend of mine in college was taking a sculpting class and I said 'I can do that' and started woodcarving," Alfano said. "It came pretty naturally."

A former member of Levittown's Boy Scout Troop 381 and 1987 graduate of Clarke High School, Alfano went on to college, majoring in business. After a brief stint as a stockbroker on Long Island, Alfano decided to travel across country. It was somewhere around Utah when he stumbled upon the realization that sculpting was his calling.

"I had to do something to connect my life and my work," Alfano explained. "At that point I came back to New York and took on two internships in Manhattan and enrolled in the Arts Students League."

From there, Alfano secured a job working in Pennsylvania to build a very large monument and after was accepted into a program at Boston University. Alfano won a grant from New York's Artist Regrant Program and was able to begin creating professional sculptures.

"The big first sculpture that I did was at the East Meadow Public Library, which was a sculpture of Walt Whitman," Alfano said. "He has a book open on his lap and a butterfly in his hand."

The cast stone sculpture of Walt Whitman took Alfano about a year to complete. It was dedicated in 1996 and remains in the reading room at the library to this day.

"Basically the way I worked it was that the sculpture was created by me, covered by the grant and then donated to the library," Alfano explained.

The following year Alfano won the same grant for a larger amount to create the sculpture Stand Up, Speak Out, which currently stands in front of the Nassau University Medical Center.

According to Alfano's website, Stand Up, Speak Out was created with the support of Students Against Drunk Driving (SADD), Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) and the Nassau County Traffic Safety Board.

"It received national attention due to its original placement at the Nassau County Courthouse," the website states. "Defense lawyers contested that its presence could unfairly bias jurors in drunk driving cases."

Commissioned by the town of Norfolk, MA, Alfano created a sculpture memorializing the events of 9/11.

"Within almost 48 hours of receiving the project, the sculpture just basically happened," Alfano explained. "It just flowed perfectly from my hands."

The sculpture, Pillar of Peace, is a bonded bronze and granite monument which shape implies that of the World Trade Center. Thirteen figures atop the tower as does a globe. According to the sculpture's description, it symbolizes that peace requires people from around the world to draw together. The sculpture rests on a five-sided base, representing the Pentagon, and the number 93 inscribed on the firefighter's hat alludes to the flight number of the hijacked plane that crashed in Pennsylvania.

Besides its Norfolk home, a second Pillar of Peace sculpture, made out of the same cast, is available to be displayed at a venue.

"At this point it's just looking for a home," Alfano said.

This piece received an honorable mention award by the American Artists Professional League (AAPL), which is a national organization dedicated to recognizing, encouraging and promoting traditional, representational art.

Reflecting on his work and various sculptures, Alfano said he "tries to sculpt to the human experience and emotion because that is really what grabs us."

"You can sculpt with all the talent of the world, but if you don't grab the emotional heartstrings of people, you really aren't doing anything," Alfano stated.

Alfano currently resides in Massachusetts with his wife, Linda Chuss, son, Freeman, 5, and daughter, Kamala, 2. His parents, Albert and Rosalie, still live in Levittown.

For more information or to purchase a sculpture, visit www.malfano.com.