FIRST FEMALE made history by being the first all-female art exhibition of its kind in Palm Beach County. It marked Viteri’s curatorial debut and became the starting point for a practice that would eventually grow into the organization bearing its name.

The title was intentionally irreverent, drawing attention to the persistent use of “first female” as a cultural milestone while also calling attention to the fact that an exhibition of its kind had never taken place in Palm Beach County. The name underscored the contradiction at the center of the project: that creating dedicated space for women artists could still constitute a cultural first.

Featuring artists Hayley Sheldon and Jenny Kiker, the exhibition created a dedicated platform for local women artists while inviting audiences into a broader conversation about what it meant to be local and a female artist. For Sheldon, FIRST FEMALE marked her first exhibition in her hometown of West Palm Beach; for Kiker, it was her first gallery exhibition. These milestones underscored the very absence the exhibition sought to address: significant local talent existed, but opportunities for visibility and representation had not always existed alongside it.

Presented throughout Women’s History Month, FIRST FEMALE extended beyond the exhibition through artist-led workshops, live painting, and community gatherings. What began as a single art show quickly demonstrated the potential of curation as a form of community building by connecting artists, audiences, and cultural spaces through shared creative experience.

The exhibition became the catalyst for First Female, the arts organization that grew directly from the project and continues its work advancing the visibility, participation, and documentation of women in the arts.

FEATURED ARTISTS

Hayley Sheldon · Jenny Kiker, Megan James, Sarah La Pierre and Lani Goodrich