Photo gallery opens in downtown Manhattan Beach
Monica and Matt Welch at the new Pacific Coast Gallery. Photo courtesy Matt Welch
Pacific Coast Gallery’s collection of high-quality images of surf and sound has moved from Hermosa to Manhattan Beach.
Owners Matt and Monica Welch, South Bay residents, opened Pacific Coast in Hermosa in 2017. The new location, at 1217 Highland Ave., opens Friday.
Pacific Coast specializes in extremely high-resolution images of nature, including beach scenes from throughout the South Bay. The images can be blown up to any size desired, printed and fitted to walls and other surfaces, and have become sought-after accents to corporate offices, hospitals, and other high-traffic spaces.
Matt got his start in photography capturing images of punk rock shows, and was drawn to the South Bay because of its music history. In the roughly two years since opening, the gallery has partnered with artists to host well-received cultural happenings, including a show dedicated to the photography of Spot, who documented the South Bay in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s while producing several of the area’s seminal punk albums. Along with Welch’s own photos, the gallery represents other artists, including Spot and local painter Josh Barnes.