CHARLESTON — The West Virginia Humanities Council will sponsor a West Virginia tour of a Smithsonian Institution traveling exhibition which will arrive in Williamson this week.

The Community room of The Brass Tree restaurant on Prichard Street in Williamson will be the scene of the exhibition’s local stay from Aug. 28 to Oct. 9, 2009.

The exhibition, “New Harmonics: Celebrating American Roots Music,” will also travel to five other communities from April 2009 through January of 2010.

Representatives from West Virginia host sites have been involved in planning for several months and convened in Berkeley Springs on April 8 for installation information from Smithsonian Institution project director Robbie Davis and administrative details related to the tour.

“New Harmonies” was developed especially for rural and small institutions. 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.

“New Harmonics” kicks off its West Virginia tour at the Ice House in Berkeley Springs with an opening event starting at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday, April 11, and ending May 22.

The remainder of the “New Harmonies schedule includes: B&O Railroad Heritage Museum, Grafton, May 29-July 5; Randolph County Community Arts Center, Elkins, July 11-Aug. 21; Youth Museum of Southern West Virginia, Beckley, Oct. 16-Nov. 30, and Grant County Library Performing Arts Center, Petersburg, Dec. 4-Jan. 24 (2010).

The Humanities Council is providing funds for each community to develop activities, displays and programs that highlight their local music traditions.

The West Virginia Hum-anities Council also an-nounced the award of 10 new grants totaling $94,921.54, for projects in Cabell, Jefferson, Kanawha and Preston counties.

The major grants are awarded twice annually for projects requesting over $1,500 and up to $20,000. The next major grant deadline is Sept. 1, 2009.

In addition, the Council reported the award of eight $2,500 fellowships for individual research and writing projects in Morgantown, Wheeling, Fairmont, Hunt-ington and Milton. All were History grants except one for Classics in Huntington and one for Archaeology in Milton.

The fellowships are awarded annually. The next fellowship grant deadline is Feb. 1, 2010.

For more information on major grants or fellowships, or to request an application, contact Humanities Council grants administrator Amy Saunders by phone at (304) 346-8500, or via e-mail at saunders@wvhumanities.org. Guidelines and applications are also available on the Council’s Web site- www.wvhumanities.org.