In New York, Ward joined the Art Student's League and studied under Augustus St. Gaudens, Daniel Chester French, and Siddons Mowbray. Around 1898, Ward traveled to Paris where she created the "Boy and Frog" sculpture that was later awarded a medal at the 1904 St. Louis Worlds Fair. Before moving back to Denver in 1900, Ward also entered a piece for an exhibition at the Society of American Artists in Paris.