Kriti Mehrotra
Although the Galvin family of Colorado seemed idyllic in every sense of the term back in the early 1960s, everything soon turned upside down as members ended up developing schizophrenia. In fact, as carefully chronicled in Discovery+/HBO Max’s ‘Six Schizophrenic Brothers,’ six out of 12 siblings were diagnosed with this truly severe mental ailment at some point in their young lives. This certainly did result in their household being full of abuse, chaos, pain, as well as trauma, but Margaret Galvin was able to escape it in her teens — she alone was fortunate enough to do so.
Margaret Galvin Was Abused and Threatened as a Child
It was in 1962 when Margaret was born to Mimi and Donald “Don” Galvin Sr. as their eleventh child yet first daughter, only to quickly become the apple of her arts enthusiast mother’s eyes. But alas, per her brothers, they all actually booed when she first came along because they were wishing for another boy to complete their football team but had to settle for a cheerleader instead. This likely did deeply hurt once she learned while growing up, but she also found it mean whenever her mother used to refer to her plus her younger sister Mary as “the roses after the thorns.”
However, all this, combined with the fact Margaret never found any sense of peace or privacy even as a kid owing to sheer number of people at home was nothing compared to what followed. That’s because violent tendencies and psychotic breakdowns had resulted in her two eldest brothers being diagnosed with schizophrenia by the time she was 7 or 8, only for four more to then gradually fall sick. Though what’s more imperative to note is that first-born Donald “Don” Jr. had once threatened to kill her, and second-born Jim had sexually assaulted her for years — just like he did Mary.
Margaret had apparently even witnessed Don trying to choke their mother for the simple act of administrating his medications before fighting their father, so she was genuinely terrified of him. Her younger sister was almost in the same boat — except for the threat — yet she was left behind at their Hidden Valley Road home while the former was shipped off to be raised by family friends at the age of 14 in 1976. Margaret reportedly did maintain contact with her loved ones and often even visited during vacations, but it was evident she’d left in search of some comfort/stability while fearing for her safety.
Margaret is a Trained Artist
It was purportedly back when Margaret was just growing up that she first developed a passion for the arts as well as the outdoors, resulting in her now being a proud multi-passionate artist. Whether it be painting, photography, pottery, or writing, she has actually dabbled in it all, ultimately driving her to establish her own space in Boulder, Colorado — she’s the owner of Margaret Galvin Johnson Studios. Though the best part of her is the fact this place enables her to continue expanding her wings in whatever direction she desires, which is currently botanic illustrations, mixed-media paintings, monotype printmaking, plus oil paintings, all the while still loving a camera.
According to Margaret’s bio, her pieces are inspired by her youth, especially as she used to spend most of her time either outside admiring nature or watching her mother support the arts. In fact, she once spent three weeks at the Outward Bound winter camps, which motivated her to work with Colorado University’s Outdoor Program before earning a degree in Outdoor Recreation. She then landed a job at Outside Magazine, spent five years painting with Naropa’s art therapy programs co-founder Bernie Marek, and spent another five years studying the craft of botanic illustrations, all the while doing macro flower photography for nearly a decade.
As if that’s not enough, while building her career, Margaret even began writing to understand the impact of her childhood experiences on her life, only for it to be the catalyst for Robert Kolker penning the Galvin family’s story in a book titled ‘Hidden Valley Road’ (2021). We should also mention that apart from being the owner-operator of Margaret Galvin Johnson Studios, this Colorado native is even a master priva te gardener plus a true professional artist. There is a public installation of her flower photos at the Dahlia Center for Health and Well-Being, and you can purchase her original painting pieces directly from her gallery or her official website.
Margaret Galvin is a Family Woman
Despite the fact Margaret technically left home at the age of 14, she managed to maintain such connections with most of her siblings that they remain in contact to this day when she’s 62. It is true that her younger sister Mary (aka Lindsay Rauch) today serves as the sole primary caretaker of their remaining schizophrenic brothers – four have sadly passed over the years – but she did play a significant role in building The Galvin Family Trust with her. This Foundation is a non-profit that simply aims to help the brothers lead a good life, especially after the siblings consciously made the decision not to receive any revenue from the aforementioned book or mini-series; they just participated in them to raise awareness.
As for Margaret’s close personal life, she is a happily married mother of two adult daughters, one of whom has actually followed in her footsteps to become an accomplished photographer turned creative entrepreneur. It even appears as if they’re all incredibly close despite having rather busy lives of their own, as evidenced by her social media platforms – the prime example is the fact the family considered her interests and took her to the Denver Botanic Gardens to celebrate Mother’s Day this year. So, Margaret Galvin now proudly goes by Margaret Galvin Johnson, an artist, an entrepreneur, a mother, as well as a wife.
Read More: John Galvin: The Galvin Sibling Now Prefers to Lead a Relatively Private Life
