About Us

درباره ما

Nazafarin Lotfi,

founder of Hamrah Arts Club

Nazafarin Lotfi (she/her) is a Chicago-based multidisciplinary artist and organizer who creates space through drawing, painting, sculpture, and community organizing. Lotfi is interested in imagination not only as a catalyst for creation but also as a force capable of shaping worlds. She received her MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago and her BA from the University of Tehran. Her work has been exhibited nationally and internationally and has received support from numerous organizations, including the Arizona Commission on the Arts, the Andy Warhol Foundation, the Arts Foundation for Tucson and Southern Arizona, and the City of Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, among others. Lotfi serves as a lecturer in the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Chicago.

Mahdia

collaborator

Mahdia (she/her) is an incoming high-school junior who has been involved with Hamrah Arts Club since Fall 2022. Born and raised in Afghanistan, she moved to Turkey at age eight and later resettled in Tucson, Arizona, in 2019. Fluent in Dari, Turkish, and English, Mahdia is deeply passionate about human rights. As a youth mentor with Hamrah Arts Club, she has supported recently resettled youth with English language learning, navigating school systems, and securing housing. During her freshman year at Tucson Magnet High School, she founded the International Cultures Club (ACC) to create a space where students could share and learn from one another’s cultural backgrounds. In 2025, after relocating to Virginia, Mahdia launched Sabah, a community-organizing program that offers English classes to refugee and immigrant women in her area. She is also a volunteer with the Women Empowerment Education Network (WEEN), tutoring Afghan women living in Afghanistan.

Sirilak Rottler

co-leader of the Tucson chapter

Sirilak Rottler is a community artist-educator based in Tucson, AZ. An Asian/Thai American, she grew up as an immigrant and an English language learner. She now centers asset-based approaches in community development and works with various immigrant communities. Her work combines contemplative and care practice with civic participation, accessibility, and equity in the arts. Sirilak is currently an MA student in Art & Visual Culture Education at the University of Arizona, with an emphasis on museum and community arts education. She was a citizenship instructor to adult learners of other languages at Pima Community College for 5 years. She also was a recipient of the 2025 Arts Foundation ARPA Artists Grant and the winner of the 2025 Community Arts Caucus Travel Award from National Art Education Association.

Mariel Miranda

co-leader of the Tucson chapter

Mariel Miranda is a visual artist and sociologist based in Tijuana and Tucson. She works as the Head of Interdisciplinary Learning at the Museum of Contemporary Art Tucson where she leads community-centered programs that bridge art, critical pedagogy, and social justice. As an artist and organizer working across the U.S.-Mexico border, she designs intersectional initiatives in collaboration with museums, schools, and grassroots spaces to foster urgent dialogues inside and outside institutional walls. In 2022, along with her sibling, she co-founded the Comunitary Library Las Cumbres, which is a self-funded initiative focused on art and social justice. This initiative connects their neighbors through various activities, including book lending, movie nights, art workshops, collective walks, food sharing, and other free, community-driven events.

Zahra Ameli

friend and volunteer

Zahra Ameli is a holistic and creative educator, advisor, and career coach based in Columbia, Maryland. With a background in counselor education, career development, and supervision, she helps students and professionals align their values, identities, and well-being with their academic and career paths. Zahra has supported over 3,000 students from 40+ countries across higher education and K–12 settings, guided by a commitment to inclusive, culturally responsive, and human-centered support. Her arts-informed approach integrates mind-body medicine, strengths-based strategies, and creative reflection to foster purposeful growth. She is especially passionate about holistic student development, career and identity formation, and creative approaches to equity, inclusion, and personal growth. Zahra is currently completing her doctorate in Counselor Education and Supervision at Western Michigan University, where her dissertation explores self-compassion in the lives of Iranian doctoral students in the U.S. She also facilitates workshops on creative career exploration, integrative wellness, and leadership development.

Current and Past Members

Anas

Arzu

Behishta

Bilal

Erfan

Eshwa

Fati

Fatima

Farzana

Fazila

Freshta

Habib

Hadyah

Henna

Hilal

Khorshid

Mado

Mais

Malika

Marwa

Maryam

Mojgan

Nabila

Nahid

Najia

Narges

Nazanin

Nouryeh

Shukufe

Taranm

Zuhrah