New Jersey
Color, Inside and Outside the Lines
Windows on the world: Allan Gorman in the city
Pity poor paper. It really wants to be glass. Ditto for canvas. It isn’t glass, either, and it rankles at its own opacity. Sometimes it feels like the entire reason painters add brilliant pigment to panels is to help stiff surfaces achieve the peaceable qualities of a windowpane. Glass doesn’t fight the light. It acquiesces to its demands for penetration. Glass lets the illumination in, and when it does, it amplifies its brilliant shine.
But painters are illusionists, not alchemists. Any windows that they open are in our minds. In “Color, Inside and Outside the Lines,” Prof. Beatrice Mady of the Fine Arts Gallery at St. Peter’s University (47 Glenwood Ave.) pairs Bryant Small and Allan Gorman, summoners of imaginary photons. Neither one has managed to transmute paper and canvas into glass — no Lite Brite bulb shines behind their frames — but they’ve bestowed an unusual translucency to their urban studies anyway.
To those who’ve followed his work, Gorman is more associated with things concrete than things transparent. But even appreciators of his post-industrial cityscapes and images of steely underbridge anomalies have noticed that he’s just as interested in the way in which light passes through girders as he is with the girders themselves. His prior shows have been busy with shadows and sun. For “Color, Inside and Outside the Lines,” he’s removed the realistic representations of tenements, bricks, and stairwells but left the play of illumination in place. He’s also changed his favored hues, switching from institutional greens and rust orange-brown to the colors of the urban undertone: pale yellow, daybreak pink, the light blue of the apartment skylight. Looking at his recent paintings feel a little like catching a glimpse of the code behind a 3-D computer simulation. If you’re familiar with what he does, the St. Peter’s show is a trip.
It’s even a trip if you’ve never heard of him. His recent canvases are full of childlike joy about what light can do: the way it radiates and bends over barriers, refracts, mixes colors, and alternately sorts, blends, and elevates objects in its path. It’s hard not to get swept up in his enthusiasm. “Through the Looking Glass,” an oil painting on a square panel, might remind you of an empty storefront window of a shop, or a revolving door, or a ticket-taker’s booth. Gorman’s angles his images of tinted, transparent sheets to draw the eye the past surface lines and into an undefined interior space. This is one of the special property of glass: it promises honesty. It lets us in. We may not know what we’re looking at, but we believe that there’s a space for observation and we’re seeing what there is to see.
Mystery in plain daylight: “Through the Looking Glass”
That same openness — and invitation to stare — is present in a Gorman triptych in which shapes that suggest a building corner on a wraparound sidewalk are visible through floating panes that are given dimension and presence through the inclusion of a black shadow. As we apprehend the colored blocks through the hovering frame, they make immediate sense to us. It’s uncanny, and maybe even a little disturbing, how familiar the scene feels, and how quickly it coheres into a streetscape.
Only someone attuned to the deep code of architecture and the relationship between light and the city could have painted “Metropolis,” with its radiance expressed as long see-through wedges brightening the rows and columns of the built environment. This is the urban core he’s showing us: diagonal lines suggestive of light intersecting with vertical ones suggestive of glass and concrete. It’s not so different from the shadow-play he’s given us in his paintings of specific bridges. It is merely, as he’s put it elsewhere, a different way of seeing.
Find myself a city to live in: Gorman’s “Metropolis.”
As Gorman gets elusive, Bryant Small has become more specific. He’s hung the names of global cities on his dramatic alcohol ink paintings, each with fields of vibrant color, smears, drips, and pressurized streaks that make it look like a squeegee was applied to the paper. “Berlin,” for instance, looks like a nest of long blue-gray thorns atop a nimbus of aqua, pink, and orange. Are we staring down a busy street that’s all angles, sudden illuminations, and brisk activity, or does Small mean to suggest something about the emotional weather in eastern Germany? Probably both. The mesmerizing “London” is all dazzling color in the background and grey horizontal lines in the foreground that resemble plane-window moisture pulled sideways through the force of acceleration. Visitors to England will surely sympathize. There’s lots to see, but it’s raining out.
Take my breath away: Bryant Small’s “Berlin”
Small is a chromatic maximalist, saturating every inch of his pieces with bright pigment and adding black lines and splatters to make his hot pinks and Caribbean greens all the more intense. Because of its evenness and its tendency to ripple and pool and dry that way, alcohol ink on paper bears an eerie resemblance to stained glass. Sensing an opportunity to take us to church, Small drenches his pieces so thoroughly it’s like he’s dipped them in a rainbow. In “Tokyo,” the most remarkable of his globetrotting series, an icy blue-green surface seems to mask neon lights, headlamps, and a downtown-district glow. It’s like we’re apprehending a streetscape, darkly, through a shattered pane. Cracks are everywhere, but the sheet of glass seems thick and unlikely to budge.
Dream in Shibuya: Small visits (or thinks about) Tokyo
Yet glass — or the impression of glass — will have its way. Even though much in “Tokyo” is obscured, the translucency that Small is able to generate puts us right in the scene. We feel like there are sources of light just beyond our apprehension. Like Gorman, he puts our faith in glass to narrative ends. There’s a city waiting for us on the other side of the window. We can trace its outlines and sense the contours of its architecture and the emotional experience of living there. Slip past the invisible barrier, if only with our eyes, and we can be part of it.
(Although it’s open during St. Peter’s regular hours, the MacMahon Student Center can be tricky to get into. Tell the security guard you’d like to go to the fifth floor to see the art exhibition. Or just wait for a friendly student to let you in.)
Tris McCall regularly writes about visual art (and other topics) for NJArts.net, Jersey City Times, and other independent publications. He’s also written for the Newark Star-Ledger, Jersey Beat, the Jersey City Reporter, the Jersey Journal, the Jersey City Independent, Inside Jersey, and New Jersey dot com. He also writes about things that have no relevance to New Jersey. Not today, though.
Eye Level is an online journal dedicated to visual art in Jersey City, New Jersey. A new review will appear every Tuesday morning at 8 a.m., and there’ll be intermittent commentaries posted to the site in between those reviews.
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A South Jersey mother who was fatally stabbed by her teenage son was described as quiet, kind, and as a dedicated caregiver.
Julissa Serrano, 49, worked as a home health aide for Journey Hospice and lived in the Meadowbrook Condos off Route 40 in Mays Landing.
Police said they responded to her home around 6:05 p.m. Saturday after a 911 call reported a juvenile with a knife.
Officers found Serrano with multiple stab wounds, and she later died at AtlantiCare Regional Medical Center.
Neighbors said the normally quiet complex was suddenly filled with police activity.
Mehmet Cicekli, who lives two doors down, said he was at work when the killing happened. He learned what occurred after seeing television news vans outside.
“I’m really shocked,” said Cicekli, 24. “She was quiet, and she was nice.”
One neighbor, who asked not to be identified, said she believed she saw the teenager escorted from the apartment in handcuffs.
“We didn’t find out until the next day,” the neighbor said of Serrano’s death.
The circumstances surrounding the incident remain unclear, but The Atlantic City Prosecutor’s Office announced they charged Serrano’s 17-year-old son with murder, possession of a weapon for an unlawful purpose and unlawful possession of a weapon.
He was taken to Harborfields Atlantic Youth Center pending his first court appearance.
Investigators have not said how he was identified as the suspect.
Serrano had worked for Journey Hospice for three years, regularly caring for patients facing death, said Denise Raymond, the company’s senior administrator.
“She was one of our home health aids,” Raymond told NJ Advance Media. “She was amazing — very loved by her coworkers, by her patients, by her patients’ families and we’re going to miss her.”
Serrano was named employee of the month at least once and earned positive feedback for her care, Raymond said.
“She was just a very positive, upbeat person to work with,” Raymond said. “You couldn’t be in a room with her without smiling.”
Journey Hospice is affiliated with Lutheran Social Ministries of New Jersey, a nonprofit organization under the Lutheran Christian Church that runs community outreach programs at 18 locations statewide.
The Atlantic County Prosecutor’s Office declined to comment on the case Tuesday.
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The basics:
- NJ vo-tech schools launch AI and robotics career pathways
- Mercer, Middlesex and Burlington schools partner with TCNJ, Kean and industry leaders
- Programs emphasize ethical AI use, industry credentials and real-world projects
- Districtwide initiatives train educators to integrate AI across all career programs
As artificial intelligence reshapes the global economy, New Jersey’s county vocational-technical schools are embracing a unique challenge. The schools are helping staff use AI as administrative and teaching tools as well as integrating the technology throughout their various career programs. Such broad awareness is essential among the schools that prepare students for a range of future career endeavors, from construction trades to the health sciences and even AI itself.
In early 2025, the New Jersey Department of Education awarded Mercer County Technical Schools and Middlesex County Magnet Schools each an “Expanding Career Pathways in Artificial Intelligence” grant. The funding was established to expand the state’s career and technical education (CTE) pathways to include new programs that blend AI and robotics.
Mercer County Technical Schools leveraged funding to partner with the Engineering and Computer Science departments at The College of New Jersey. The collaboration resulted in the launch of a three-course CTE sequence that is the foundation of the school’s new AI and Robotics program, with each of the courses offering students dual enrollment with TCNJ.
Charles Powell, assistant superintendent of curriculum and instruction at MCTS, said the grant supported a thoughtfully developed program that is “rigorous, relevant and directly connected to industry needs.” In addition to the professors at TCNJ, the school tapped industry experts to weigh in on the curriculum.
Curriculum development
“We simply could not have built a future-proof curriculum without deep partnerships,” Powell noted. “We collaborated with several incredible businesses and professionals who provided essential input on everything from course content to identifying industry-valued credentials (IVCs).”
Key partners have included: Moonbird.Ai; Nagy Group – MagicEdX.ai; QiMeta; and Croda, a global specialty chemical company, demonstrating AI’s broad reach beyond just tech companies.
“Professionals from these businesses helped us identify the critical knowledge gaps and future skill demands. Based on their feedback, we also selected the certifications students would pursue to ensure they graduate with credentials that are immediately valuable to employers,” Powell added.
In just their first year, MCTS AI and Robotics students can participate in the Certified Artificial Intelligence Prefect certification program. The course provides a strong foundation in AI, robotics, machine learning, deep learning, augmented and virtual reality, and Python programming. This certification equips students with the skills needed for future coursework, internships and emerging careers in AI-related fields. Students concurrently enroll in Computer Science Principles, where they explore computational thinking, data analysis, algorithms and programming, enhancing their problem-solving abilities through hands-on projects, digital portfolio creation and an in-depth understanding of computing’s impact on society.
Partners in AI
Middlesex County Magnet Schools also relied on strategic partnerships to develop a new AI and Robotics program. MCMS Director of Career and Technical Education Lee Neamand wrote the curriculum with feedback from HP, SHI and MRA International professionals. She also worked closely with Kean University’s Patricia Morreale, professor and chair of the Department of Computer Science and Technology, to focus the curriculum around the ethical and responsible use of AI.
They focused on five ethical principles: AI enhances rather than replaces human teaching and learning; educators and students maintain agency and control; AI use is transparent and explainable; student data is protected; and AI tools promote equity and access for all learners.
“AI should be a thought partner, never a substitute for critical thinking,” explained Neamand. “Using AI without critical evaluation perpetuates biases and inaccuracies. Students need both technical skills and ethical literacy.”
AI should be a thought partner, never a substitute for critical thinking.
– Lee Neamand, MCMS director of Career and Technical Education
Neamand said that the program would fail students if it simply taught them how to use AI tools and focused too much on tasks that will become automated. She emphasized, “We’re preparing students for the jobs of the future; we’re teaching them how to create AI, manipulate AI and solve problems using AI.”
Solving problems
As students progress through the program to complete four years of high school, they will finish with a capstone project that challenges them to identify a problem in the community and use AI to solve it in a systemic way. Neamand said this type of coursework can prepare students to make a real impact in their community. She offered the example of how AI tools have increasingly been used to detect cell deformity before humans can see it.
MCMS students will further benefit from opportunities throughout the program to learn from industry experts with support from an Advisory Committee that formed organically as Neamand sought input on the curriculum.
“Through these experiences, students will collaborate on real-world AI projects with business partners, allowing them to practice their technical skills and business application,” explained MCMS Superintendent Jorge Diaz. “This collaboration creates meaningful career pathways, connecting our AI-literate students with employers seeking their skills while ensuring all students, regardless of labels and zip codes, have access to emerging tech opportunities.”
Industry feedback
MCMS also will look to these business partners and its advisory committee to provide timely feedback on students’ knowledge and level of preparedness to guide program adjustments.
“Relevance is our biggest challenge moving into the future, but it’s one we planned for,” said Powell of Mercer’s AI and Robotics program. “We also established a CTE Program Advisory Committee for our Artificial Intelligence program with our business partners and TCNJ faculty. This Advisory Committee will meet on an ongoing basis to review new advancements in AI, share best practices and constantly provide recommendations to update the curriculum materials. By formalizing this feedback loop with both academia and industry, we ensure our curriculum is reflecting the state-of-the-art industry needs and preparing students not just for today’s jobs, but for the jobs of tomorrow.”
Not just for students
Powell said developing the new AI and Robotics program has prompted the district as a whole to examine its own use of AI. Starting last spring, MCTS implemented AI professional development for all instructional staff and recently completed a District Approved Policy on Acceptable Use.
“This ensures that the responsible and ethical use of AI is woven into every classroom, not just the CTE program,” Powell emphasized.
Burlington County Institute of Technology has emerged as a leader among New Jersey’s county vocational-technical schools in preparing staff for using AI professionally. At the start of this school year, BCIT launched a districtwide AI Task Force made up of educators, administrators, students and industry partners. Led by Director of Curriculum and Instruction Danielle Hartman, the group takes on a range of AI-related topics involving ethics, guidelines for use in the classroom, district policy development, and best practices for both administrative and instructional use.
“We want to help our colleagues leverage this technology as a thought partner and also a time-saver,” explained Hartman.
BCIT recently held a full day of professional development for staff led by Thomas Semko, a talent development expert, education consultant and adjunct professor at The College of New Jersey. This latest training focused on prompt engineering, guiding instructors on creating prompts using Chat GPT or Gemini to produce impactful learning opportunities for students.
Spanning industries
Hartman explained that a plumbing instructor may prompt AI to simulate a problem in the field that a student needs to troubleshoot. The instructor can input a plumbing codebook to give the AI tool specific information to pull from when both creating the problem and evaluating the student’s solution. Instructors may also prompt the AI tool to quiz students on an input codebook or safety manual.
BCIT Assistant Superintendent Eder Joseph said the district’s focus on training staff to use AI is strategic: Instructors must first become adept at using AI before they present it as another tool for students to use in their chosen career.
“Even masonry is using AI now to simulate what a job will look like before one brick is even put into place,” Joseph said.
He added, “AI will impact many of our career programs and also will change the programs we offer here at BCIT. Some careers may become obsolete, while others emerge. We’ll constantly evaluate our program offerings and how we teach these programs to best support our students.”
Ashanti Holley, superintendent of BCIT, added, “Artificial intelligence is redefining how the world learns and works, and leadership will determine whether that future creates broader access or deeper divides. At BCIT, we lead with intention and clarity so that technology expands possibilities, strengthens human potential and positions every student for meaningful success in a rapidly changing world.”
Jackie Burke is executive director of the New Jersey Council of County Vocational-Technical Schools.
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