Keep
apprised of what's going on in our publication, PEOPLE
& MOUNTAINS. This quarterly magazine is provided as a service
to our members and features insights on Council activities throughout
the state, available grants and current issues in the humanities.
Dont
forget...
to
check the Council calendar
of events to see more of what is happening in your area!
New
Harmonies:
Celebrating American Roots Music
Tour
2009-2010
The
West Virginia Humanities Council has selected six community venues
for a Council-sponsored state tour of the Smithsonian Institution
traveling exhibit New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music.
The exhibit will travel the state from April of 2009 through January
of 2010.
The community
venues hosting the exhibit are:
-
Morgan County
Public Library in Berkeley Springs
B&O Railroad Heritage Center in Grafton
Randolph County Community Arts Center in Elkins
Williamson Historical Foundation in Williamson
Youth Museum of Southern West Virginia in Beckley
Nicholas Old Main Foundation in Summersville
New
Harmonies was developed especially for rural audiences and small institutions
that typically do not have access to traveling exhibitions. It features
recorded music stations, photos, objects, and text relating the stories
of a variety of forms of roots music and performers the likes of Bill
Monroe, Mahalia Jackson, Blind Willie Johnson, The Chuck Wagon Gang,
The Carter Family, Bessie Smith, Bob Wills, Narciso Martinez, Woody
Guthrie, and many others.
The
Humanities Council will make available funds
for host institutions to develop local companion displays and community
programs expanding on the themes presented in the exhibit. Activities
will include celebrations of local music traditions. All of the communities
will be planning throughout 2008 to develop the local displays and
programs.
The
participating communities will also benefit from the expertise of
one of West Virginia’s most respected bluegrass musicians, Buddy
Griffin, who will be serving as the scholar for the tour. Griffin
is a professor in the Fine Arts Department at Glenville State College
where he directs the only bluegrass music college degree program in
the country. He has traveled the United States for many years as a
fiddler and banjo player with such major bluegrass groups as Jim and
Jesse and the Virginia Boys and The Goins Brothers. He has been a
frequent performer on the Grand Ole Opry, in Branson, Missouri, and
also organizes music for the West Virginia State Folk Festival. Griffin
will work with each of the tour sites to help them plan their local
displays and programs.
Check
back here for updates in the coming months, links to the New Harmonies
venues, and details about the exact dates of display at each venue!
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