Sarah Thorp Heald describes herself modestly in her biography (1937). She is humble and underplays her career in the arts. Many sources that speak about Heald only highlight her connection to her father, a successful portraitist. The truth is that Sarah had an incredible talent for art and her background in history makes many of her paintings valuable resources for looking back upon life in early Minnesota. 

Heald was born to Freeman and Orlena Thorp in Geneva, Ohio in 1881. When her brother Clark became ill, her family was told he needed fresh northern air to recover. Col. Freeman Thorp quickly bought land in central Minnesota and built a cabin, eventually bringing his family to live there in 1895. 

At fifteen, Heald had a work exhibited at the Washington Water Color Club, earning an honorable mention in the show. Heald would accompany her father to Washington, D.C. on occasion, where he had a studio on top of the Capitol. We can assume that Thorp may have mentored his daughter in painting around this time, based on their numerous travels together and Sarah's skills in watercolor despite no formal education past grammar school. Along with the Washington Water Color Club, Sarah was also accepted into the French Aquarelle Club.

Heald moved to Washington, D.C. in her twenties to go to the Corcoran Art School. Here she studied watercolor painting under renowned artists like Edward Messer and James Henry Moser. Despite her training in watercolor painting, she later followed in her father's footsteps and did most of her work in oil, likely because oil paintings could often be sold for more and could stay better preserved with less effort.

In 1909, after moving back to Minnesota, Sarah Thorp married Joseph Gerry Heald. The Healds were another big name in the Brainerd Lakes area thanks to developing Minnewawa Lodge on Clark Lake. 

Heald had three children and from this point on in her life was extremely busy. From 1917 - 1921, Heald and her family moved to Illinois. Here, Heald was commissioned to paint a portrait of Tenskwatawa, Brother of Tecumseh for the Prophetstown Library, which hangs there to this day. We can assume that the Healds missed Minnesota because they came back to Lake Hubert after only four years away, taking over the Lake Hubert Store and Post Office and living on her father's property. 

In 1924, in collaboration with the Lake Hubert Women's Club, a League of Women Voters was formed, with Sarah Heald as its first president. 

In 1927, a group of people, including Heald, founded the Crow Wing County Historical Society. From 1931 to 1946, Sarah would be fully involved in the society. For the first ten of these years, Heald's position was as secretary, however, she did much more work than a typical secretary would do. She worked in collections, taking in and documenting new items, she worked the front desk when the museum was open, and there was even one account of her showing a guest to the Historical Society around the city of Brainerd. Her role was more directorial, despite what her title was. In the 1940s, she was finally given the official title of "Curator" but a case could be made that this was true all along. 

In 1930 and 1931, Heald created a painting for the Graduating classes of Washington High School, which would be placed in the Library in the school. These paintings were of Zebulon Pike on the Mississippi and a landscape with a trading post, respectively.

Later, in 1936,  The Crow Wing County Courthouse commissioned several paintings from Heald. These paintings are some of her largest in scale and are still there today, all of them being historically significant. 

Heald was by no means a rich woman and she often painted out of necessity to support her family. Heald’s Husband did not make very much money and was not the most reliable, this combined with her son who was often sick led to hard times for this branch of the Heald family. 

Many of her History paintings are at the Crow Wing County Historical Society because she wanted them there after her death. She painted dozens of other paintings that have ended up all over the country. Sarah Thorp Heald died in 1954, but not before completing two final paintings for Tom O'Brien, who requested them after his house burned down.

Biography of Sarah Thorp Heald, 1937, Sarah Thorp Heald Collection. Crow Wing County Historical Society.

Zapffe, Carl. Old Timers: Stories of Our Pioneers. Vol. I & II. Minnesota: Echo Publishing and Printing, Inc. 1988.

Secretary's Notes for the Crow Wing County Historical Society, 1930-1954, Crow Wing County Historical Society. 

Edmund Clarence Messer - Path Home Painting For Sale. https://www.bedfordfineartgallery.com/edmund_clarence_messer_path.html. Accessed 27 July 2024.

James Henry Moser | Smithsonian American Art Museum. https://americanart.si.edu/artist/jameshenry-moser-3432. Accessed 27 July 2024.