Museum on Main Street

New Harmonies   July 2008 “New Harmonies" will visit six communities in 2009   Six Nebraska communities have been selected to host the Smithsonian Institution traveling exhibition "New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music" in 2009.   The Nebraska tour of "New Harmonies" will begin in March 2009 with a grand opening at the Knight Museum and Sandhills Center in Alliance. It travels next to the Cambridge Museum for a stay through early June. The next stop will be the Platte County Historical Society Museum in Columbus through July, followed by an August visit to Kearney’s Trails & Rails Museum. The Cherry County Historical Society Museum in Valentine will house the exhibition in September, and the Nebraska tour will conclude at the end of the year at Loves Jazz & Arts Center in Omaha.   The exhibition examines the growth of American music, which is as rich and eclectic as the country itself. American music reveals distinct cultural identities and records the histories of peoples from Africa, Europe, Asia and the Americas. "New Harmonies" explores how our country’s ongoing cultural process has made America the birthplace of great music—from the blues and country western to folk and gospel.   The NHC cooperates with the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service (SITES) and the Federation of State Humanities Councils to bring Museum on Main Street (MOMS) to Nebraska. Nebraska museums receive the exhibition free of charge with a stipend from the NHC to help with educational programming and publicity.   Each host community develops public humanities programming related to the theme of the exhibition. These programs include lectures, local exhibits and school tours. With "New Harmonies," local communities will be encouraged to explore their own musical heritage.   The NHC has sponsored five previous MOMS tours in Nebraska: "Between Fences" in 2007-08, "Key Ingredients: America By Food" in 2005-06, "Yesterday’s Tomorrows" in 2003, "Barn Again!" in 2001-02, and "Produce for Victory" in 1996.   top   September 2007 Council seeks hosts for "New Harmonies" tour The Nebraska Humanities Council (NHC) is seeking communities interested in hosting the 2009 statewide tour of “New Harmonies: Celebrating American Roots Music,” a traveling exhibit developed by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Services (SITES). “New Harmonies” will explore the cultural process that has made America the birthplace of more music than any other place on earth. It’s the story of people in a New World, places they have left behind, and ideas they have brought with them. It is the story of people who were already here, but whose world is remade. The exhibition provides a fascinating, inspiring, and toe-tapping listen to the American story of multicultural exchange. The story is full of surprises about familiar songs, histories of instruments, the roles of religion and technology, and the continuity of musical roots from “Yankee Doodle Dandy” to the latest hip hop CD. If your small-town museum, library or other community organization is interested in hosting “New Harmonies” in 2009, contact NHC Program Officer Mary Yager at (402) 474-2131 ext 103 or mary@nebraskahumanities.org for more information about the application process. The application deadline is Nov. 15. To host “New Harmonies” a community must have a facility with at least 800 square feet of floor space and 8-foot ceilings. Each hosting organization is required to develop public humanities programming that will coincide with the theme of “New Harmonies,” such as lectures, displays, exhibits and contests. Sites also will develop events and activities to encourage public participation during the exhibit. The exhibition will tour Nebraska between March 2009 and December 2009. Part of the SITES Museum on Main Street (MOMS) program, “New Harmonies” is designed for rural audiences and small museums that do not have access to traveling exhibits because of space and cost limitations. This year and next, the MOMS exhibit “Between Fences” is touring six Nebraska communities and the State Capitol. In 2005-2006, the NHC brought the exhibit “Key Ingredients: America By Food” for a statewide tour of six communities. In 2003, the exhibit “Yesterday's Tomorrows: Past Visions of the American Future” toured six towns, and in 2001-2002, the exhibit “Barn Again! Celebrating an American Icon” visited 10 communities and the Nebraska State Fair. To visit the MOMS website, click here The "New Harmonies" webpage is here   top

For more information, contact the Nebraska Humanities Council. Phone 402-474-2131 or e-mail nhc@nebraskahumanities.org

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