Gaby Viteri

Gaby Viteri, founder of Women’s Art Week and First Female, spent decades being the ultimate local, on every scene, at every event, always showing up for others. But after her mother died on International Women’s Day 2024, she short-circuited. She quit her job, stripped away everything artificial, and disappeared from public life entirely. What followed was a raw, messy, beautiful unraveling: travel, grief, silence, and finally a spiritual nudge to make art. She channeled her loss into 47 hand-built ceramic plates, one for every year of her life, in a series she called “Speed Kills.” When she opened her home to share the work, strangers showed up and poured their hearts out. In that unexpected communion, she healed. Gaby redefines what it means to be local: not longevity or popularity, but showing up, investing, and caring deeply about the people and place around you.