Ward moved to
Cedar Falls, Iowa, in 1975 and she taught art at the
University of Northern Iowa for nine years. In 2016, Ward was the juror at the 2016 Tri-Cities Online Ceramics Show which was hosted by the Student Art Fund of the Santa Barbara Art Association. The
Frick Collection's Archives Directory for the History of Collecting has "Esther Bear Gallery records, 1954-1977" that includes information about Ward.
Exhibitions Ward's 1998 exhibition titled
Rhino/Blaauwbock Project was made to show "how people have caused a scourge to the balance of nature" by using art that resembles corpses of extinct and endangered species. In response to the exhibition, Ward said, "I want to make a statement about anti-complacency. I think it's important to think about death. Something physical will put your mind on it whether you want to think about it or not. If you see something dead, you think about it." She held an exhibition at the
Beatrice Wood Center for the Arts in 2015 that included sculptures, prints, and drawings. In 2020, Ward displayed 28 of her animal sculptures at South
Willard gallery in
Los Angeles, California. A 2020 exhibition titled
Santa Barbara Printmakers: Wild Places in Print at the Wildling Museum’s Barbara Goodall Education Center included Ward's art. A 2022 exhibition titled
An Encomium: Women in Art included her work at the University of Northern Iowa Gallery of Art. Her exhibitions have been shown in the Philippines, California, Maryland, Iowa, Chicago, and Kansas City. ==Reception==