“A successful man is one who can lay a firm foundation with the bricks others have thrown at him.” – David Brinkley

If you happen to be in Roxborough this Saturday, you will no doubt be impressed if you stop between 3 and 7 p.m. to see the new 35-foot-long brick wall that serves as a boundary between 559 Leverington Ave. and its twin, 557.

The wall showcases some of brick artist Michael Morgan’s intricately carved bricks, coupled with found bricks and wrought iron pieces. He constructed piers, or brick columns, and between each set of columns has built the wall sections. Topping each column is a salt-fired finial Morgan hand-built of the clay removed during the carving of the bricks. On Saturday, Morgan is displaying his creation at an open house.

Morgan, 70, who lives in the Leverington Avenue property with his wife, Tina, is probably best known in Philadelphia for the “Arches of Resurgence,” a three-legged arch he constructed at N. 33rd St. and Ridge Avenue for SEPTA in 2013. This iconic sculpture has often been cited as one of the most significant pieces of public art in Philadelphia.

A native of the south of England, Morgan earned a bachelor’s degree from Wolverhampton Polytechnic, a town in England’s midlands. He came to the United States in 1988 and soon afterwards became a resident artist at the Clay Studio in Philadelphia’s Northern Liberties neighborhood. He won first prize in an American Clay Artists exhibition for a brick chair he made during his time at the Clay Studio.

Morgan went on to receive a 1993 master’s degree in fine art and ceramics from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln while living in Nebraska from 1991-2010. After getting divorced, he decided to move back to Philadelphia.

“I had always felt that I had an affinity with Philadelphia,” he told the Local last week. “I had friends here. It is a brick city; in fact, in the 19th century it was known as America’s premier brick city. People walk more here than in Midwestern cities, so as a walker, I feel more at home.”

Morgan has been commissioned over the past 30 years to design and install many public and private sculptures. All of his work is nonrepresentational and uses abstract design to create a wide range of functional and semifunctional works of art with hand-carved and altered bricks.

“It took me about two months to build the new wall in Roxborough,” he said, “although I included many elements that I had had for a number of years.”

“Arches of Resurgence” came about as a result of a request for qualifications from SEPTA, which was renovating the bus loop at N. 33rd Street and Ridge Avenue. The transit agency wanted a sculpture that would act as an entryway to the bus loop and the Strawberry Mansion neighborhood.

“It’s difficult to say which work is my favorite,” Morgan said. “One would be the ‘Arches of Resurgence.’ I think it truly expresses a feeling of exuberance in its upward movement. I wanted to draw together a number of seemingly disparate elements: the trees of Fairmount Park, the surrounding architecture, a feeling of vitality, John Coltrane and the community itself. Community residents made about 200 of the bricks themselves.”

Some of Morgan’s public sculptures are: “Tide Clock,” New Smyrna Beach, Fla.; “Haverstraw Trophy,” West Haverstraw, N.Y.; “Hornet’s Nest,” Charlotte N.C.; “27th Street Hearth,” Lincoln, Neb.; “Spring Valley Terms,” Dallas, Texas; “Transition,” Madison, S.D., “Convergence,” Omaha, Neb., “Orkney Park” in Northern Liberties and “Philadelphia Earth,” which was at Philadelphia International Airport. Most of these were competitive commissions.

Some private commissions are: “Silo” and “Memory Wall,” Nashville, Neb.; “Thames Wall,” London; “Keraunos,” Lincoln, Neb.; “Locust Leap,” Cochranville, Pa, and “Three Worlds” at Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens on South Street. Morgan’s work has a striking beauty to it that belies the simplicity of the small carved clay bricks from which it is made.

“I don’t know if I would call what I do a lost art,” he said. “I have often thought that I’ve become pretty good at something that I made up … My own favorite artists are Antoni Gaudi, Andy Goldsworthy, Turner, Francis Bacon and Richard Long. All different and all for different reasons.

“A common thread that runs through my work is that it is made from the earth’s most elemental substance, clay/earth. This clay is pressed into a rigid geometric utility object. Through carving or altering this object, I synthesize the elemental with the man-made. These hybrid sculptures help us to view the everyday brick in a new light ...

“Aside from marrying my wife, Tina, the best decision I ever made was to leave my job on Portsmouth Parks Department and start studying art.”

For more information, visit brickworksmichaelmorgan.com. Len Lear can be reached at lenlear@chestnuthilllocal.com.