She traveled to London, Paris, and Florence, and decided to settle in Rome for two years. There, she became involved with a group of American women sculptors and began to work in marble. Sculptors usually hired local workmen to carve their final pieces, but Lewis did all her own stonework out of fear that if she didn’t, her work would not be accepted as original. In addition to creating portrait heads, Lewis sculpted Biblical scenes and figural works dealing with her Native American heritage and the oppression of Black people. Unfortunately, most of Lewis’s sculptures have not survived.