Looking Back on the 2025 No Limits Celebration

By: Seth Johnson

Lachi is seen sitting at a grand piano on the Schrott Center stage, singing into a microphone. She is wearing a blue velvet outfit with matching high-heeled shoes and has her hair styled in braids with a blue hair accessory. The stage is dimly lit with soft, circular lights creating a pattern on the background. There is a speaker on the floor next to the piano.On Saturday, March 1, the Indiana Blind Children’s Foundation (IBCF) held the 2025 No Limits Celebration featuring An Evening with Lachi.

This year’s event marked an exciting milestone for IBCF as the No Limits Celebration moved to Schrott Center for the Arts in partnership with Butler University. With construction underway on the co-located campus for Indiana School for the Blind and Visually Impaired and Indiana School for the Deaf, the event’s move provided an opportunity to expand IBCF’s audience by introducing a new community to the foundation’s ongoing No Limits programming.

Like previous years, the No Limits Celebration was an entirely accessible arts experience, with attendees having access to audio description and assistive listening devices, braille and large print programs, closed captioning via Zoom, accessible seating, and ASL interpretation throughout the program. For many attendees, these accommodations allowed for an evening that was all the more enriching.

Two women are seen sitting on stage in armchairs, engaged in a conversation. The woman on the right (Lachi) is wearing a blue outfit and holding a microphone, gesturing with her hand as she speaks. The woman on the left (Kathy Nimmer) is wearing an orange top and has curly hair as she listens attentively. There is a small table between them with a floral arrangement on it. The background is dark with circular light patterns scattered across it.“I loved knowing that accommodations were available because I believe it shows that inclusion is at the core of the organization and their planning efforts so people can engage and experience the arts,” said one attendee in their post-event survey. “Also, my daughter has more than one disability, so I learned alongside her about some accommodations available to her.”

Following a pre-concert reception with heavy appetizers from the Jazz Kitchen and live music from local jazz pianist and ISBVI alumnus Steven Jones, event attendees made their way into the Schrott Center auditorium, where they were greeted with opening remarks from event emcee Kathy Nimmer. To ensure the event got off to an accessible start, Nimmer described the appearance of both herself and her guide dog Tate, before having audience members self-describe themselves to a neighbor.

“Whether you are visually impaired or not, I'll ask you to create sentences in your mind that would be part of the visual description you'd give to someone near you, if that person had low vision or no vision,” Nimmer instructed the audience. “They don't have to be as long as Tate's or mine were. But think about three to five sentences that tell the person next to you who you are, including the visual aspects that someone with no or low vision could miss.”

Three people are seen joyfully posing together in front of a backdrop with logos. The person in the middle is a young girl holding a white cane, suggesting she is visually impaired. She is wearing a sparkly black dress and is smiling widely. To her right, a woman with braided hair is embracing her, also smiling broadly. To the left, another person with curly hair is wearing a blue and white striped jacket and looking at the girl with a smile. The backdrop features logos for the No Limits Arts Series, Indiana Blind Children's Foundation, Regions Bank and Arthur Whitehill Clowes Charitable Foundation.After Kathy’s opening remarks, event headliner Lachi treated the audience to an hourlong keynote concert, intermingling engaging stories in with her heartfelt songs.

“This was a fantastic event!  I appreciated both Kathy Nimmer and Lachi. They shared powerful perspectives in multiple, engaging formats,” said another attendee in their post-event survey.

Following a half-hour intermission, attendees returned to the Schrott Center auditorium for a Q&A between Nimmer and Lachi, during which members of the audience were given a chance to ask Lachi some questions as well. To close out the Q&A, Lachi reflected on her friendship with celebrated disability activist Judy Heumann, who inspired her hit song, “Lift Me Up”.

“The experience deepened my understanding of how important community is, and how powerful it is for youth with disabilities to have adult role models with similar lived experiences,” said another attendee in their post-event survey. “It deepened my understanding of both the importance of self-advocacy, and of what an impact people with disabilities in positions of power make.”

The image shows a stage with a wooden floor and decorative patterned lighting on the walls. There are four people on stage, with a piano and a podium. These four people include two ASL interpreters on the left, Lachi at the piano, and an ASL interpreter to Lachi’s right. The audience is seated in front of the stage. Above the stage, a large banner reads, “No Limits Arts Series”. The stage is set in an auditorium, and the lighting creates an elegant atmosphere.All in all, 67% of attendees who filled out the post-event survey said they had their awareness of or thoughts about people with disabilities change, while 79% of survey respondents said they had their thoughts or knowledge about accessibility change.

Ultimately, it was another successful No Limits Celebration full of great music, impactful storytelling, and lessons learned along the way.

“Bravo! Better than anticipated in every single way,” said another post-event survey respondent. “Fierce power in that place!”

Follow this link for more photos from the 2025 No Limits Celebration taken by M.Rinaye Photography.

 

 

 

 

 

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