Above: The Grateful Dead, 1967. Photo by Herbie Greene

As previously reported, a fundraising reception for a new Grateful Dead exhibit at the New York Historical Society will take place on Wednesday, October 21. Relix and Jambands.com can now confirm that both Phil Lesh and Bob Weir will attend the reception as guests of honor. Weir is in New York for a series of shows with RatDog, while Lesh lives in the city for a portion of the year.

The Grateful Dead: Now Playing at the New-York Historical Society is slated to open at the museum in March of 2010. Fundraising reception attendees will have the opportunity to preview select highlights from the exhibit, which will explore “the musical creativity and influence of the Grateful Dead from 1965 to 1995, the sociological phenomenon of the Deadheads (the band’s network of devoted fans) and the enduring impact of the Dead’s pioneering approach to the music business.” Materials in the exhibition will be drawn almost exclusively from the extraordinary holdings of the Grateful Dead Archive at the University of California Santa Cruz, established in 2008.