Blog

Prairie Underground + Minor Matters + Tariqa Waters

October 10, 2024

“Creation itself should be a sustainable practice. Social, environmental, and economic resources are not unlimited.”

These words from Prairie Underground’s website reflect an ethos they share with many artists and small businesses in the Seattle area. For twenty years, this self-described “small-batch, slow fashion design house” has defied the odds and persisted in designing and producing distinctive clothing in south Seattle, finding their way to national and international attention.

Along the way they have used their space, their team, their clothing and their network to highlight powerful women and their significant creative contributions to our community. Artist activist Tariqa Waters was one such figure, who was featured through Prairie’s “Womxn We Love” series in 2017; I was honored to be included in that series in 2022 for the work I have done through Minor Matters to collaboratively publish art books.

Prairie Underground’s milestone twentieth anniversary this fall aligns with Minor Matters’ current efforts to publish a first book with Tariqa Waters (deadline October 31). Waters’ monograph Who Raised You? A Martyr Sauce Guide To Etiquette documents her own installation work, and her considerable achievements as a gallerist and a community force.

—Michelle Dunn Marsh
Publisher, Minor Matters

Minor Matters’ business model shares much in common with Prairie Underground. We, too, are a small-batch producer, developing no more than 3–5 titles annually and only manufacturing books that have demonstrated an audience of interest.

We believe in community-driven, thoughtfully produced books that are well-made today for an enduring future. We acknowledge the importance of community and collective effort by listing in all of our books the people who pre-purchase them to bring them to reality.

And, like Prairie, we seek out distinctive artists and champion them to bring greater visibility to their work.

Prairie Underground has joined as a co-publisher of Tariqa’s book to help achieve our goal of 400-500 pre-sales. Thank you, Prairie! We invite others in this community to also join us by our October 31 deadline to publish.

Prairie has remained true to its principles visually and environmentally, underscoring that small businesses thoughtfully guided can sustain and thrive. Happy anniversary, Prairie! I am proud to represent pieces from the fall line, along with my friend and author Tariqa Waters, to reinforce the significance of what is possible when great women work together.