Laurie Seeman is an artist, naturalist and educator known for her pioneering work in the field of place-based art and environmental education. With founding Strawtown Studio in 2002 she combined her 20 years of experience as an artist, curator and creative entrepreneur in NYC with a passion for nature and spending time with children. She draws from her education in communications, experience in filmmaking, and ongoing study of the natural and ecological sciences with regional environmental experts, and time with indigenous peoples to work for environmental stewardship and justice.

Through Strawtown Studio, Laurie trains educators today in the methods and principles behind engaging in nature, art and science discovery and mentoring youth outdoors. Her hope is for more children to experience all the joys and self discovery that come from being creative and nature-connected.

Joanna Dickey is a visual artist who joined Strawtown Studio as Summer Staff in 2003, and has been co-teaching programs ever since. Starting in 2013, she has been co-leading the organizational development of Strawtown since she and Founder Laurie Seeman formed the non-profit. Joanna has a studio art degree with concentrations in painting and printmaking, and has worked with children for over 20 years in a variety of settings. As an artist and naturalist she loves guiding youth to explore the natural world in creative ways. She is trained in botanical study and excels in teaching art skills related to nature.

Joanna has 20 years of experience curating and installing local and regional art exhibitions. She has collaborated on many community art projects, including murals, printmaking, and environmental art. Her artwork has been shown in many exhibitions, locally, in New York City, and as far as Bucharest, Romania. In 2008, Joanna co-founded and served as Secretary of the Garner Arts Creekside Plant Committee, which formed to ensure sustainable restoration of the banks of the Minisceongo Creek that runs through the Garner complex. Since 2010, she has trained in aquatic science monitoring and has co-led citizen science projects on local waterways with youth and community members.

Sarah Provost is a puppetry artist, storyteller, producer, and mom to two teens. She is an avid environmentalist, nature lover, and is always looking for ways to connect arts teaching to climate literacy. She has performed nationally and internationally, and her work has received awards from the New York State Council on the Arts, the Jim Henson Foundation, and the MacDowell Colony. Sarah has worked in arts education for 20 years – both in the NYC public schools as a teaching artist developing arts and literacy curriculum, as well as at cultural institutions. In 2023 she was the Teaching Artist in Residence at the Hudson River Museum.  Locally she has worked with Creative Arts Workshop, Rockland Center for the Arts, and the Nighthawks Teen Leadership Program at the Edward Hopper Museum. Sarah is thrilled to be a part of the Strawtown team.

Ali came to Strawtown in 2013 as an intern and is now developing and leading programs. She has a Master’s degree in Applied Community Change focused on Conservation, along with a Bachelor’s degree from Amherst College in Psychology, with minors in Art and Education. Ali’s experience in the field includes working as a teaching assistant with children at Earthwork Wilderness Program in Massachusetts, and many years of experience trekking around the world, working on community service projects. She is currently a board member of the Peabody Preserve Outdoor Classroom in Sleepy Hollow, NY.

Ketti North is a textile artist, mother, teacher, and activist who joined the Strawtown family in 2025. While raising her three sons in Croton-on-Hudson, Ketti taught crafts like sewing, knitting, needle felting, printmaking, and embroidery at after school programs and summer camps before opening her own studio in 2018. A graduate of Washington University in St. Louis, Ketti started her career in Manhattan as a fashion designer for brands like Liz Claiborne and Nanette Lepore, and now loves combining art and nature, education and sustainability, working with children and adults alike. She can be found most days walking her dogs on the many hiking trails in Westchester County and visiting with family and friends.

Jantell Perrault is an aspiring artist who is passionate about illustration and videography. She spends most of her free time drawing what inspires her, whether it is her favorite cartoons or beautiful landscapes. She has worked with children for over ten years, and it is part of her life mission to encourage children to live out their authentic truth in order to become confident and happy adults. 

Growing up in Vermont, Lorraine has always felt a deep connection to the natural world. She is a lifelong art maker and loves to work with children in deepening their connection to nature through art and science.  It was through the experience of helping Laurie Seeman to launch a hiking club that she began to understand the urgency and importance in helping to connect all ages with the natural world. Lorraine has her undergraduate degree in Communications with a concentration in art, and a masters degree in Special education.  During the school year she is a teacher at a small private progressive school.  If asked of her favorite way to spend a day, doing art with children in nature would be her answer any season of the year.