Her father, Hart Augustus Farrand (1850–1938), had a grocery store in Lansing, and her mother, Effie Ann Shank (1854–1918) was an accomplished wood carver who created much of the furniture for their home.
[5][6] The couple moved to Chicago, where she received specialized training in watercolor with Frederic Milton Grant (1886–1959), a student of William Merritt Chase.
[7] In the 1920s Dodge lived in St. Paul, Minnesota and Ohio,[a] where she continued studying with Herman Henry Wessel (1878–1969).
[citation needed][9][10] She exhibited at the Art Institute of Chicago, the Pennsylvania Academy, and the National Association of Women Artists.
[12] In 2014 Olivet College, in Michigan included her in an exhibition of overlooked female painters titled "Beautiful Things: Still Life Paintings by American Women 1880–1940.