WORTHLESSSTUDIOS, in partnership with Even/Odd and Campaign Zero, has announced that the organization has secured $1M in funds to support the next chapter of
1-800 Happy Birthday, a project created by Mohammad Gorjestani that honors the Black and Brown victims of police and systemic violence. Thanks to the funds raised thus far, 1-800 Happy Birthday will begin a new chapter of activations in 2026, bringing the project closer to the families with whom it collaborates to create new forms of public art and collective empowerment.
WORTHLESSSTUDIOS has been spearheading the growth of 1-800 Happy Birthday since 2021, reflecting its mission of supporting the creation of transformative works of art.
1-800 Happy Birthday, created by artist and filmmaker Mohammad Gorjestani originated as a digital voicemail archive created in collaboration with families of those lost. Loved ones and the public could leave birthday messages for individuals killed by police. Since then the project has evolved and taken shape in many ways: an interactive payphone exhibition in 2022, birthday celebrations, four short films, and public art installations at important sites of loss and memory.
Over the next two years, organizations across the U.S. will join WORTHLESSSTUDIOS, Even/Odd, and Campaign Zero in expanding 1-800 Happy Birthday through a series of events, participatory public installations, a book compiling project’s work, and more. To increase access to the project online, 1-800 Happy Birthday is collaborating with artists enhancing the online multimedia components and voicemail archive. Each new step for the project is created in partnership with the victims’ families, community organizations, and other local stakeholders.
In the core team, WORTHLESSSTUDIOS’ Curatorial Fellow Benjamin ‘BJ’ McBride, has been at the helm of relationship building and fundraising. His work is playing a pivotal role in this next chapter, deepening existing partnerships with families and fostering important collaborations with local organizations that will host the project in its expansion.
Neil Hamamoto, WORTHLESSSTUDIOS’ Founder and Artistic Director, emphasized:
“This is a monumental step in WORTHLESSSTUDIOS’ trajectory as a New York based arts organization and a much deserved achievement for this project and all those involved […] We are all so incredibly grateful to the supporters who see the value in the work we are doing and who believe in WORTHLESSSTUDIOS to empower the group to make the shared vision a reality.”
Upcoming activations will see 1-800 Happy Birthday return to its place of origin in the Bay Area. Through a partnership with FOR-SITE, the project will be exhibited at the Guardhouse at the Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture in San Francisco, which will run from January 19th to February 14th and strategically align with the FOG Design+Art Fair.
Having originally launched with a film that honored the life of Oscar Grant, 1-800 Happy Birthday will honor his life once more with a month-long exhibition at the Black Panther Party Museum in the heart of Oakland in February. Finally, during the Black Joy Parade, scheduled for February 22nd in Oakland, 1-800 Happy Birthday will be the centerpiece of the Healing Village.
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WORTHLESSSTUDIOS provides essential resources to emerging epoch-making artists producing ambitious artwork.WORTHLESSSTUDIOS is a New York 501(c)3.
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