Taft would win numerous awards at national and international expositions, including the Columbian Exposition in 1893, the Pan-American Exposition in 1901, the Louisiana Purchase Exposition in 1904, and the Panama-Pacific Exposition in 1915. His first important commission was for the Horticultural Building at the World's Columbian Exposition in 1893, when he designed two sculptural groups at the entrance entitled "The Sleep of the Flowers" and "The Awakening of the Flowers." His next major works included "The Solitude of the Soul," which earned him a gold medal at the 1904 Exposition, the "Fountain of the Great Lakes," and the sculptural group, "The Blind." This last sculpture can be seen in a 1988 casting in the Krannert Art Museum on the University of Illinois campus.
Taft later focused on monumental, heroic sculptures, including a statue of the prominent native American Black Hawk, which was fifty feet in height and placed on a promontory overlooking the Rock River near Oregon, Illinois. One of his most noted sculptures was the 100 foot long "Fountain of Time" at the University of Chicago. Although many of his works are in Illinois, he also had many commissions for statues, sculptures, and fountains throughout the United States, including Louisiana, Colorado, Washington, Nebraska, New York, North Carolina, and Oklahoma.

This typed letter dated June 8, 1934 is on the official stationary of Chicago's Midway Studios, Taft's art studio. Addressed to Miss Lorraine Marianelli, also of Chicago, the letter informs Miss Marianelli of Taft's plans for the weeks following June 8. He tells her "it will be a pleasure to meet her and her friends and requests that he telephone ahead by calling him at "Hyde Park 7058." The letter is signed "Lorado Taft." $140.00