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Edreys Wajed

American, born 1974

Edreys Wajed (American, born 1974). Installation view of Inner Dialogue, 2024. Photo: Brenda Bieger, Buffalo AKG Art Museum

Inner Dialogue,

Public Artwork Details

Currently on View

Location:

608 William Street, Buffalo, NY, 14206

Materials:

Acrylic on polytab

Measurements:

Design informed and inspired by workshops with students at Harriet Ross Tubman School (BPS 31), facilitated by Rose Falcone and led by Ben Volta and Edreys Wajed

Location: 608 William Street, Buffalo, NY, 14206 (Get Directions)

The Jesse Nash Health Center at 608 William Street is the site of an Erie County health clinic that has long served members of the East Side community. Generations of Polish immigrants and African Americans have sought care there, and the site has evolved to serve an ever-growing and diverse population of immigrants in the region.

The mural on view now, designed and produced by Edreys Wajed, was originally conceived in 2022 as a community mural project to be designed by renowned Philadelphia-based artist Ben Volta. Other obligations eventually pulled Volta away from the project, and Wajed stepped up to take on the lead artistic role of coordinating workshops, developing a design, and executing the mural.

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Artists Edreys Wajed and Ben Volta during a workshop at the Harriet Ross Tubman School (BPS 31). 

Wajed, with the assistance of Buffalo Public School 31 Harriet Ross Tubman teacher Rose Falcone, led students through workshops producing images that would serve as core motifs for the final work. Wajed states, “The students creatively synthesized the concepts and ideas discussed around the convergence of science, art, history, and civic duty in their (our) community. The engagements were rich, electric, and authentic.” In addition to the visual ideas generated by the students, Wajed held conversations with professional clinicians at the Health Center about the health and food challenges faced by families in our communities.

Wajed then distilled the visual, spoken, and written input gathered over two years into a polytab mural, produced at Eat Off Art Studio with the assistance of local artists Naija Boles, Bree Gilliam, and Emeka Wajed, son of Alexa and Edreys Wajed who own EOA. That group also installed the work at the site with additional assistance from Yames Moffitt.

Inner Dialogue, 2024, in progress. Photo: Jeff Mace

Inner Dialogue, 2024, in progress. Photo: Jeff Mace

Installation view of Inner Dialogue, 2024. Photo: Brenda Bieger, Buffalo AKG Art Museum

Installation view of Inner Dialogue, 2024. Photo: Brenda Bieger, Buffalo AKG Art Museum

Installation view of Inner Dialogue, 2024. Photo: Brenda Bieger, Buffalo AKG Art Museum

Installation view of Inner Dialogue, 2024. Photo: Brenda Bieger, Buffalo AKG Art Museum

About Edreys Wajed

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Artists Edreys Wajed and Ari Moore in front of Inner Dialogue, 2024. Photo: Jeff Mace

Edreys Wajed is celebrated for his work as a musician, poet, playwright, jewelry designer, graphic designer, educator, entrepreneur, and muralist (including as a contributor to Albright-Knox Public Art Initiative projects The Freedom Wall, 2017, and Love Black, 2020). Wajed co-curated with Aitina Fareed-Cooke the exhibition In These Truths (February 19, 2022–June 5, 2022) at Albright-Knox Northland, an exhibition of works by Black cultural producers, in collaboration with Curator of Public Art at Buffalo AKG, Aaron Ott. After establishing himself as a self-trained barber as a teenager, Wajed built his early reputation on customized hats, clothes, and hand-designed logos, all before formally studying graphic design in college. His creativity, craftsmanship, and passion to inspire people are central to his spirit of entrepreneurship.

Most recently, Wajed has developed a new artistic presence and voice in the form of musically inspired paintings, suffused with unique mark-making and rhythmic movement. Examples of these works are in the collections of the Burchfield Penney Art Center and Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Edreys, a 2024 NYSCA funding recipient, has contributed to many successful collaborative projects with the Buffalo Bills, Buffalo Sabres, Erie County Office of Mental Health and a variety of prominent public and private entities as well. He and his wife Alexa are Co-Founders of Eat Off Art, a creative consulting and arts-based company, specializing in curating transformative experiences and building empathetic communities.

Wajed holds a MFA (’22) from the University at Buffalo as a Schomberg Fellowship Program Scholar.

Initiative Sponsors

The Public Art Initiative is supported by the County of Erie and the City of Buffalo.

Erie county seal
City of Buffalo's seal