Marga Galins
Marga Galins
Marga Galins grew up in the West Coast. She is a second generation Latvian American. She graduated from Nebraska Wesleyan University in May of 2022 with a Bachelor of Arts, (Art and minor in Art History). In February 2022, Marga was rewarded 3rd place with a linoleum relief print titled “Thoughts” in the All-Student Juried Art Exhibition juried by Tim Brawner. In February of 2021, Marga was rewarded 2nd place with a diptych color reductive woodcut print titled “Untitled” in the All-Student Juried Art Exhibition juried by artist Santiago Cal at Nebraska Wesleyan Elder Gallery. In December of 2020, two artworks were submitted to be published in a Second Edition of Vēja Zvani Magazine from the American Latvian Youth Association. Her work is focused on themes related to being a second generation Latvian American, displacement, and lack of information or unanswered questions about family history.
My parental grandparents fled Latvia in 1944 to Germany, where they were sent to displaced persons camps and then immigrated to the United States in the early 1950’s. Latvia had to deal with being controlled first by Soviet Union, then Nazi Germany and then Soviet Union until the collapse in 1991. My father was the first of his family to be born on US soil, while my mother was born in Latvia and moved to Portland, Oregon in 1995. I grew up around the Latvian community and I learned a lot about the culture and traditions.
