The Toula Oberlies Creative Arts Fund (TOCAF), an endowed fund, was established to honor long-time Indiana Blind Children's Foundation board member, Toula Oberlies. Starting this year, in 2022, the fund is providing students at the Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired (ISBVI) with once-in-a- lifetime opportunities to uniquely experience creative arts, including but not limited to music, art, writing, dance, and theater.


Because of the collective support from the IBCF community in 2021, IBCF was able to award the first TOCAF grant in May 2022 in support of Bright Lights, Big City, Chicago Extravaganza, a collaborative arts experience imagined by ISBVI teachers, Janelle Pivec and Josh Baxter. Students and staff took a trip to Chicago which, for many of the students, was their first time in the big city. Students worked with Second City Chicago for a half-day improvisational workshop, experienced an accessible Broadway Chicago production of The Lion King, and toured DePaul University's theatre school.


"I instantly started thinking about how the grant would allow our students to get closer to the performing arts and artists and that proximity would make those experiences so much more meaningful," Pivec explained.


Video Description: The video above features IBCF Board Member, Toula Oberlies, sharing her excitement about this grant opportunity.


The TOCAF grant also helped solidify a new theater class at ISBVI that started in August this year, preparing the students to craft and perform a play this spring 2023.


All 15 students opened up to each and every opportunity, from engaging in improvisational theater to exploring the many career paths possible through the study of theater at DePaul University. There were many "firsts" for students on this trip. Whether it was their first time in Chicago, their first Broadway show, or their first time on an urban college campus, they all formed bonds and memories that will last a lifetime.


Photo Descriptions from left to right: 1) ISBVI students and staff approach The Bean in Chicago’s Millennium Park. 2) ISBVI students and staff pose for a photo in front of The Bean. 3) ISBVI students stand in Millennium Park in front of large buildings, with The Bean to their left.


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