[1][2][3] Sanford was born to American parents in Guelph, Ontario and was raised on a farm in Warren, Pennsylvania.

[5] At the Art Students League of New York, Sanford studied sculpture under Leo Lentelli and Robert Laurent, experimenting with the direct-carving method.

[5] The same year, her statue Diana was awarded a prize by the National Association of Women Painters and Sculptors.

[2][9] Sanford also was included in the 1939 New York World's Fair exhibition of American art, and won Guggenheim Fellowships in 1941 and 1942.

During the Second World War, they redecorated and maintained the former studio of Gutzon Borglum on 38th Street in New York City.