Heidi Hoy was born in 1954 on a goat farm in Indiana, and moved to Minnesota when she was three.

He father was an anthropologist, her mother a botanist, and she grew up hanging out behind the scenes of the St. Paul Science Museum, where she watched artist Alex Ojia sculpt dioramas for the museum.

Hoy received her degree in Studio Art from Hamline University, and moved to Minnetonka in 1988 where she married and found the Minnetonka Center for the Arts.

She offered to work for free for the artist in residence Nick Legeros, if he would teach me everything he knew about being a professional sculptor.

She apprenticed in bronze casting while taking classes for several years, eventually becoming a teacher and professional sculptor myself.

Since then she has become a prominent artist in the area, featured in magazines, books, and on television.