After two years at Marywood School in Evanston, Illinois, she returned to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College in 1966 and served as head of the art department there until 1970.

[2] After general studies at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College in the 1920s, Newport earned a bachelor's degree from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago in 1932.

For her work in the field of religious art, Newport received an honorary doctorate from Saint Mary's College, Notre Dame, in 1956.

After enlisting artist Graham Carey as resident philosopher for the group, she founded the Catholic Art Association (CAA) in 1937 and served as its first director.

[4][5] The Association aimed to encourage commissions of religious art by churches and organizations and to educate and elevate Catholic taste.

A two-story bas relief, designed by Newport and executed by Adolph Walter, adorns the facade of the Rooney Memorial Library at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College.