She studied at The Art Students League, NY and The Hudson River Museum, and RSDI during her early years.
She also studied with Betty Warren at the Malden Bridge School of Art,[2] where she met her future husband Michael Lancaster.
She began her work in clay during this time and although the couple made functional ceramics she began exploring mixed media on clay and making abstract figurative sculptures Barbara Harnack has made numerous contributions in the arts especially in ceramic arts.
Her desire to support artists was best expressed in the collaborative effort to create The Malden Bridge Arts Center which housed her gallery and studio may have been best addressed when she collaborated with George Ricky and created the invitational show "Six Sculptors,"[6] which showcased Rickey and artists and fellows in his foundation.
In 1983 Harnack and her husband, along with interested community members established "The Malden Bridge Playhouse Society"[7] to honor the former renowned summer stock theater where their gallery resided, and to bring performing arts back to the same venue.