06/08/2026
A group of five students and three teachers from the Indiana School for the Blind & Visually Impaired (ISBVI) recently embarked on an arts-filled adventure to New York City from April 21-24, which was once again made possible with funding from the Indiana Blind Children's Foundation (IBCF) through the Toula Oberlies Creative Arts Fund (TOCAF). Established in 2021 to honor longtime IBCF board member Toula Oberlies and her love for the arts and ISBVI students, the TOCAF grant has now helped to support several arts engagements dreamt up by ISBVI staff members, including trips to Chicago, Washington, D.C., and now the Big Apple.
Imagined by ISBVI art, music, and theater teachers Janelle Pivec, Josh Baxter, and Leslie Walsh, the City of Dreams trip to New York City included visits to Broadway (for an audio-described production of "Aladdin"), the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), NBC Studios, and the reSOUND multisensory art exhibition. While in New York City, the group of ISBVI students and staff also made sure to check out several iconic tourist attractions, including the Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, Times Square, and the National September 11 Memorial and Museum. Most notably, the group of students and teachers attended the American Foundation for the Blind’s 2026 Helen Keller Achievement Awards ceremony as well, where they saw IBCF board member/ISBVI alumna Kathy Nimmer receive her award.
“We get so caught up in our subjects and our day-to-day that we forget what a big world it is out there to experience. And a lot of the time it’s because it’s not normal life to be able to go take a great trip like this to New York City and do all these things,” says ISBVI theater teacher Josh Baxter. “I’ll always have photographs in my mind of them laughing through the big city and them making fun of how slow I walk — just really enjoying something that was larger than life.”
Stay tuned for a complete photo journal looking back on the group’s trip to New York City in the coming weeks!
[Photo 1 Description: The group of ISBVI students and staff is seen posing together for a photo with the Statue of Liberty seen behind them in the background.
Photo 2 Description: The group of ISBVI students and staff poses around a desk that mimics that of Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show. On the front of the desk, a poster reads, "THE TOUR AT NBC STUDIOS".
Photo 3 Description: The group of ISBVI students and staff is seen looking at art on a wall at the MoMA with a guide standing in front of them speaking on what they are observing.]
