PORTSMOUTH — While closed for expansion, the Southern Ohio Museum and Cultural Center (SOMCACC) is working hard to remind people that they are still a driving force behind accessing culture and arts through programming. Most recently, they accomplished this in a big way through a residency by noted Nicaraguan muralist, printmaker, and academic Alberto Torres Cerrato, who visited Portsmouth as an artist in residence at Shawnee State University (SSU) and SOMACC from October 10-16.

Alberto Torres Cerrato is a former Fulbright recipient, earning an M.F.A. in Printmaking from Ohio University in 2009. He currently serves as the Director of the Art Centers of the Ortiz Guardian Foundation in Nicaragua, which was instrumental in launching the Visual Art Central American Biennale and houses one of the finest collections of art in Central America. Torres Cerrato continues to work actively on his pictorial and graphic work as a teacher of mural painting for young people, adults, and children. He takes special interest in collaborating with other artists in community mural art projects, often working with his wife, Jullissa Moncada.