Toyna Mandy grew up in Rapid City, South Dakota, and attended the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, where she earned my bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering in 1999. Her family moved to the Twin Cities where she also received a master’s degree in Intercultural Leadership from Bethany Global University. After returning to Rapid City, Toyna began to paint rosemaling in 2014 with absolutely no art background.

In 2018 she received a South Dakota Arts Council traditional arts apprenticeship and began painting with rosemaler Judith Kjenstad. During her apprenticeship, she discovered that she thought she was going to Minneapolis to get better at painting, but she was actually going to learn how to paint. She feels extremely fortunate to have been able to apprentice with Judith. In 2020, Toyna received a fellowship from the American Scandinavian Foundation to study color and pigment in both Norway under Anne Hesvik, as well as back in Minneapolis with Judith Kjenstad.

She and her husband Ed live in Rapid City, South Dakota, and have five young children. She is also passionate about international travel and culture, family road trips, cooking, and skiing.