Archana Horsting received a B.A. with honors from U.C. Santa Cruz, studied art history at the University of Padova, Italy, as well as art practice at L'Academia di Belle Arti di Venezia before working for the Italian sculptor Carlo Schiavon. She pursued independent post-graduate study with Krishna Reddy and Stanley William Hayter at Atelier 17 in Paris. She later studied with Akira Kurasaki from Japan, and Sandro Martini from Italy. She co-founded Kala Art Institute, and remained its executive director for 48 years. 

Archana has served as a visiting artist at U.C. Santa Cruz and Mills College, a site visitor for the National Endowment for the Arts, and as a panelist for the California Arts Council. Her artwork has been exhibited and collected throughout the U.S. and internationally. She was awarded the Arts Leadership Award from Alameda County in 2012 for Kala Art Institute, and the Benjamin Ide Wheeler Award from the Berkeley Community Fund in 2015.