Hannah Barrett received her BA at Wellesley College in German and Printmaking in 1989 and her MFA in Painting at Boston University in 1998. She has also studied at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA and attended a One-year Fellowship at the School for Applied Arts in Vienna, Austria in 1994.

She has exhibited widely at Regina Rex Gallery, New York, NY; Stephan Stoyanov Gallery, New York, NY; Howard Yezerski Gallery, Boston, MA; Childs Gallery, Boston, MA; The Gibson House Museum, Boston, MA; Lesley Heller Work Space, New York, NY; NEWD Art Fair, Brooklyn, NY; Shaw Gallery, Weber State University, Ogden, Utah; NADA Fair, Artadia Foundation Booth, New York, NY; David Winton Bell Gallery, Brown University, Providence RI; Dodge Gallery, New York, NY; Carrousel de Louvre, Paris, France; National Museum of Women in the Arts, Washington, D.C.; Massachusetts College of Art Bakalar Gallery, Boston, MA; Samson Projects, Boston MA; DeCordova Museum and Sculpture Park, Lincoln, MA; and the Museum of Fine Arts Boston, Boston, MA.

Barrett has received many awards including the MOTHA Award Recipient, New and Upcoming Artist of the Year; Faculty Development Fund, Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY; Berkshire Taconic Foundation Grant, Sheffield, MA; International Association of Art Critics, Annual Exhibition Award; Massachusetts Cultural Council, Finalist Painting Grant, Boston, MA; School of the Museum of Fine Art, Alumni Traveling Fellowship, Boston, MA; Boston Cultural Council, Finalist Painting Grant, Boston, MA; and Fire Island Artist Residency.

Barrett has taught as an Adjunct Associate Professor of Fine Arts at the Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, NY from 2008-2015 and as Visiting Full Time Faculty, Painting Area at the School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, MA. Currently she serves as the International Program Coordinator, Berlin at Bard College, Annandale-on-Hudson, NY.