by Jessica Del Curto
Daily Lobo
Albuquerque's art scene is coming together to rock against breast cancer.
Genesis for the Arts, a collaborative show benefiting breast cancer, will celebrate its second anniversary at El Rey Theatre and Puccini's Golden West Saloon.
Kathy Zimmer, co-owner of the venue, said the benefit is unique, because it combines artistic genres over the course of two nights.
"No one else does an arts show," she said. "That is pretty unique right there."
Digital art, experimental film, body artists, dancers and a silent auction are some of the events in the two-day show.
Eric Torrez, director of Genesis, puts it on quarterly, and once a year, he has an anniversary party.
"The audience started small," Zimmer said. "Maybe 50 or 60 people. Now the audience has grown to maybe 400."
Zimmer said it was her idea to make the event a benefit show.
"There are different ways of doing fund-raisers," she said. "They can raise money or visibility and attention to the cause."
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This event is aimed at raising awareness of breast cancer among college students, so they understand they cannot charge a lot of money.
Tim Reynolds of Dave Matthews and Friends will perform on Saturday night.
Giovanna Urbina of local band Hit by a Bus is pretty excited about the performance.
"This is our first time performing at El Rey," she said. "It will be kind of cool, because a few years ago, I saw Weezer perform on the same stage."
She said not getting paid for this show is not a problem.
"It's not an issue to us," she said. "We never even really thought about it."
She said she is looking forward to sharing a stage with so many other local artists.
Zimmer said the show is also unique because of how many sponsors come together.
"There are over 50 sponsors," she said. "That means there is a great deal of community involvement."
Urbina hopes the second anniversary is a start of many others.
"It's a great cause, obviously," she said. "I hope that there is a 12-year anniversary, and it will contribute to finding a cure along the way."
