Photos & Story by Marianne Salza
Sybil Gallagher, founder and lead designer of interior design firm, sirTANK, located in Cambridge, and designer and co-founder of Cheeks Shades, a sunglass company that invests in feminist projects, surrounds her days with kind, creative, and curious people.
The abstract painter has canvases in every corner of her Milton home, a bustling gathering place for neighbors and three Japanese exchange students. Gallagher’s social, political, and historical statement pieces are painted on her kitchen table, where she is often joined by her greatest joys, her three children, ages 9, 12, and 14.
Gallagher described the challenges she faced as an entrepreneur, and how meeting her patient, introverted, activist husband, Chad, while working at the oldest residential vacation camp for people with disabilities — Camp Jabberwocky, on Martha’s Vinyard – has led to her goal of supporting feminist movements during her March 10 Beacon Hill Women’s Forum (BHWF) presentation at The Union Club of Boston.
“My days are filled with different things that I love to do,” said Gallagher. “I like my life. I am challenging different parts of myself.”
The fiery, sociable, and outspoken Gallagher is one of six siblings born to a woman who celebrated her daughter for her individuality, and encouraged her to find her passion after high school – a defining moment for her.
“I realized that my education wasn’t forced on me. It was handed to me,” recalled Gallagher, gratefully. “My days feel filled with purpose and feel meaningful to me.”
Gallagher operated assisted living facilities that specialized in dementia care for some ten years, all the while, finding calmness in helping friends design their homes.
For five years, Gallagher was also her musician husband’s tour manager. It was a time of transition.
“I was tired of the viciously male-dominated music industry that was extraordinarily problematic. It felt like a good time to start my own thing,” shared Gallagher. “I love design and art. It felt like a nice time to forge a new path.”
Learning the skills and details of her craft took time; and once she learned to set boundaries, Gallagher began to receive respect.
After witnessing the power of music and the energy it can harness around social movements, Gallagher and her husband founded Calling All Crows, a non-profit organization that engages music fans and artists in local feminist movements. One of Calling All Crows’ first campaigns was in Boston in partnership with Oxfam America, focusing on women affected by sexual violence in Sudan.
“For me and my husband, Chad, we understood that feminist movements were totally essential for a rising and successful society,” emphasized Gallagher. “We also saw a lot of holes in that regard in terms of how work places and homes functioned, the effects of gender expectations, sexual harassment, and pay disparities.”
Gallagher has been working with Oxafam for nearly 20 years and is this year’s recipient of its Champion of Equality Award.
Gallagher is also the producer of the upcoming rock opera, “1972,” written by her husband, Chad. It tells the story of a woman in 1972 Maryland, experiencing an abusive relationship and an unwanted pregnancy.
“It’s her journey in managing the complexity of a time in American when abortion wasn’t legal, and she didn’t have agency around choice,” explained Gallagher about “1972,” premiering in Boston this October.
Gallagher is strongly drawn to racial issues, as well. She is fascinated by the effects of racial makeup in the foundation of the country and its influences throughout history. In the future, Gallagher hopes to spend more time focusing on how race plays a role in many of the activities and campaigns that she participates in.
