The ARTE EVA Foundation of Prof. Ewa Iżykowska was established in September 2018. Its main goals are cultural and educational activities, promoting active participation of society in cultural events, and promoting vocalists – opera stage artists. The president and founder is the outstanding singer and pedagogue, Prof. Ewa Iżykowska-Lipińska. The Foundation pursues its goals through organizing concerts and the International Vocal Competition VIVA CALISIA. The recognition received from the city authorities and the Kalisz community for the organization of this Competition allowed the Foundation to continue organizing subsequent editions. The events organized by the ARTE EVA Foundation are supported each year by the City Authorities as well as local private sponsors.

The First International Vocal Competition VIVA CALISIA took place in 2018. The main Grand Prix prize, funded by the Mayor of Kalisz, was awarded to artist Deniz Yetim from Turkey.

The first prize in the male category was awarded to Polish singer Adam Zaręba, while the second prize went to Hasmik Sahakyan. Special awards in the form of concerts with the Symphony Orchestra of the Kalisz Philharmonic, the Częstochowa Philharmonic, the Musical Theatre in Rostov-on-Don, the Kalisz Organ Forum, the Academy of Music in Poznań, and the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw were also presented.

The Second International Vocal Competition VIVA CALISIA took place in 2019. Again, apart from the main awards, special prizes were given in the form of concerts with the Symphony Orchestras of the Kalisz Philharmonic, the Opera Nova in Bydgoszcz, the Opera and Philharmonic in Białystok, the Grand Theatre in Łódź, the Musical Theatre in Rostov-on-Don, the Faculty of Pedagogical and Artistic Education at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań, and the Philharmonic in Kalisz. In the same year, the ARTE EVA Foundation organized the staged opera performance of The Haunted Manor by Stanisław Moniuszko in cooperation with the Fryderyk Chopin University of Music in Warsaw. 2019 marked the 200th anniversary of Moniuszko’s birth, and the Foundation received co-financing from the Marshal’s Office of the Greater Poland Voivodeship.

In 2020, due to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic, the Foundation decided not to organize the next edition of the International Vocal Competition. However, in December 2020, with support from the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage – National Fund for Culture Support, two concerts were held: From Bach to the Beatles and Christmas Carols in Jazz Style performed by Marek Bałata.

In 2021, the Third International Vocal Competition VIVA CALISIA took place. The Grand Prix prize, funded by the Mayor of Kalisz, was awarded to an artist from China, Don Younghenge. Apart from the main awards, special prizes were again awarded in the form of concerts funded by the Mayor of Kalisz, the Dean of the Faculty of Pedagogy and Arts at AMU in Kalisz, recitals with the Symphony Orchestra of the Kalisz Philharmonic, the Chamber Opera in Warsaw, the Opera Nova in Bydgoszcz, and the Baltic Opera. In November 2021, on the occasion of Poland’s Independence Day, the Foundation organized two concerts under the patriotic theme “Our White-and-Red Homeland,” supported by the Municipality of Ostrów and the Kalisz Academy.

In 2022, the Fourth International Vocal Competition VIVA CALISIA recorded a record number of participants, with the jury awarding 25 laureates, 8 of whom received special prizes in the form of recitals on the stages of the Warsaw Chamber Opera.

In 2023, as part of the promotion of the city of Kalisz, the Foundation participated in the “Music of the World” Festival in Jerusalem, Israel, with the 13-year-old Gabriela Frątczak, a student of Primary School No. 1 in Kalisz. She won the main prize in the under-14 youth singing category. In November, within the concert series From Bach to the Beatles, a concert was organized in Kalisz featuring the jazz-blues band of Łukasz Gorczyca with guest Muddy Manninen, a rock guitarist from Finland. That year also saw the Fifth International Vocal Competition VIVA CALISIA, which once again gathered participants from around the world.

In 2024, apart from organizing the International Vocal Competition VIVA CALISIA, the Foundation held another concert in February 2024 in Kalisz as part of the From Bach to the Beatles series, featuring the jazz-blues band of Łukasz Gorczyca with American vocalist and guitarist LeBurn Maddox.