Students at the Maryland School for the Blind, as well as blind students from other area high schools, were invited to take part in a workshop designed to encourage their self-advocacy - to help them express their needs to the sighted world. Song-writing was selected as the means to that end. The project started with one song-writing session provided by TAFFYpresents, a subsidiary of Theatre Arts Festival for Youth, a 501(c)(3) charity. TAFFY sent Valerie Smalkin, a Maryland State Arts Council award-winning artist, to conduct one such workshop. The results of that workshop were so stunning that an anonymous donor immediately offered to pay for 4 additional workshops and to help produce a CD of the songs. From this beginning musicians, engineers, artists, and performers across the country have donated their time, talent, and treasure to see that the words of these students reach as wide an audience as possible.

​

Life Beyond Sight is a collection of powerful songs that will make you listen close and sing out loud. From the moving and powerful “Not With My Eyes” to the joyous chorus of “Dance of Freedom,” these are songs that don’t merely “ring true,” they speak – no they SHOUT – with a clarity and honesty that is impactful in a whole new way.  These are wonderful, empowering songs, for sure, but be prepared to feel a little uncomfortable at times. There’s a courageous honesty from both the songs and the singers that helps them share their unique experience in ways that we all can relate to.  Most of us can only imagine what it’s like to not be able to see -- but each of us knows what it’s like to feel unseen in some way.