Farnham's earliest works revolved around fine portrait busts of her society friends. By 1903, she was offered a $5,000 commission to create a fountain for the Baltimore garden of Col. Issac Emerson, founder of Bromo-Seltzer. A year later, a call came out from her hometown of Ogdensburg, NY searching for a sculptor to create a Civil War memorial of some "artistic value." After submitting two designs for consideration, Farnham won the competition and her Spirit of Liberty was to be her most personal and rewarding creation, allowing her to honor the memory of her father, who fought with the many men from St. Lawrence County who died during the Civil War. Spirit of Liberty came to symbolize many of the ideals Sally's father instilled in his youngest daughter, such as honor, love and above all else, pride in country and family. The work was praised for it's "originality," and one critic went so far as to call it "a masterpiece." Following Spirit of Liberty, Sally soon received commissions for two more war memorials in Rochester, NY.

By 1907, Farnham's meteoric rise in the art world peaked early as she earned the respect of critics who acknowledged her as one of the leading female sculptors working on a heroic scale in America. Their confidence in her ability served her well, as commissions continued to come her way. Within the year, she was invited to create a series of large relief panels depicting the discovery, exploration and settlement of the New World. Designed to adorn the new Pan-American building in Washington, D.C., the piece was called the Frieze of the Discoverers, and the finished project earned her international acclaim. The finished panels led to further commissions from South American republics. After the Frieze of the Discovers, the Republic of Bolivia asked her to create a marble bust of Sucre and the Republic of Peru commissioned a similar bust of Unanue to be given for the Pan-American building's Hall of Patriots. Continue...

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