Alexa and Edreys Wajed, the founders of Eat Off Art, are dynamic artists, creative change agents, and activists in their own right. As shining stars their presence has been impressed upon settings such as UB’s Distinguished Speaker Series, or on the panels of Buffalo’s most iconic public art projects including the Freedom Wall and The Pride in Place Buffalo Initiative. Eat Off Art is a multi-dimensional agency, platform, and affirmation all in one, providing transformative experiences through Creativity, Food, and Art, countering the adage of the “starving artist,” in subscription to a new narrative of “thriving artists.”
We are a family-owned and family-run small business based in Buffalo, NY. A husband and wife tandem, both from a lineage of brilliant-minded thinkers, tinkerers, artists, and craftsmen, driven to continue a legacy of creativity.
Alexa is a creative entrepreneur and a mother of two creative young men. She makes time to serve a faithful and growing clientele as a personal chef providing Virtual Cooking Classes. She enjoys helping people understand and adopt healthy eating habits, mentoring the youth and creating abstract art along with unique hand painted jewelry which is sold online and in a few local gift shops and galleries.
Edreys Wajed is a catalyst of inspiration and a walking enterprise of all things creative. The Buffalo native boasts a toolbox chock-full of talents and experiences ranging from a visual artist, jewelry designer, and musical entertainer to an educator and entrepreneur with notable recognitions respectfully. His approach in each endeavor is soundly unique, high quality, and signature in presentation, having found his course as a creator early in life.
“Together they are an unstoppable duo who make up Eat Off Art bringing together creative engagement with food politics and the struggle for race and social justice through visual art, sound, and fashion with a critical and creative genius that is truly unique.” – Dr. Camilo Trumper Associate Professor of History, Director of Undergraduate Studies – University at Buffalo (SUNY)
Alexa and Edreys owned a greeting card and stationery design company for almost 20 years which enabled them to open a brick-and-mortar gallery, Gallery 51 on Elmwood avenue in the early 2000s, one of the few black-owned businesses on the strip at the time.
The creative couple has created an online platform titled “Eat Off Art”, where they continue their legacy of creativity and positive expression. Eat Off Art came about after pondering the cliche, “Starving Artists,” which is so widely accepted by many, even artists themselves. With that, we decided to entertain the notion of making a living and thriving from art, eating the fruits of our efforts, hence, Eat Off Art.
Our main intent is to inspire others through our crafts, passions, and endeavors to believe that there is a way to be successful, sustainable, and profitable as artists, especially married artists, with creative children in tow.
Our services include:
- Creative problem solving and consulting for consumers and business owners
- Illustration, graphic design, and logo development
- Project management
- Licensed cooking demonstration, culinary classes and consulting
- Jewelry design and manufacturing