An early influence on Harrington was his father, a union labor leader. Observing the relationships between social conflict and artistic expression, and between design and functional materials, Harrington’s art evolved with a growing sense of its role both culturally and aesthetically. His golf course renderings are but one facet of the breadth and diversity of his work.

Harrington’s own artistic philosophy first awakened while studying the Dutch and Flemish masters’ depictions of workers and common people. He felt that the responsibility of his profession is to stimulate social and artistic awareness and promote positive evolution. Harrington promoted the classical idea of artist as participant.

Harrington studied and worked with various cultures across the country, including southwest Native American, Alaskan Tlingit, farmers of the Midwest and rural Vermont, and city dwellers in Chicago and New York.

Settling in Illinois in 1985, Harrington worked with many corporate agencies, initiating programs to promote positive social change and community development, and programs to benefit the homeless. He had major shows of his paintings, textiles and sculptures at the Sindlin Gallery in New York City and Chicago’s Phyllis Kind, Merrill Chase and AES Galleries. Other works are in the permanent collections of the Toronto Natural History Museum, the Virginia Museum of Fine Art, and the Taos Natural History Museum.