Developers might be dead set on bulldozing Miami's past, but local illustrator Melissa Gutierrez is here to make sure our collective living memories of it remain intact. Her charming "Westofchester" illustration series offers authentic pangs of nostalgia for anyone who grew up with classic Miami spots like El Palacio de Los Jugos, Ñooo Que Barato, and Navarro Discount Pharmacy as psychogeographical landmarks. Gutierrez recently illustrated the cover of one of our issues featuring a joint-toking rooster bro making the scene on Calle Ocho — a perfect example of her finely tuned aesthetic sense of what is uniquely Miamian.

Graphic designer Juan Mejía is one-third of the Jezebel collective, which aims to promote a sustainable, inclusive, hyper-local dance scene here in Miami. But we're obsessed with his eye-catching, rave-influenced style. His efforts designing posters and artwork for parties and musicians across the country continue to draw in crowds. Now based in New York, where he holds down residencies at Newtown Radio and regular gigs at the city's hottest clubs under the name Liquid J, he frequently visits Miami and continues to serve clients here. We expect his design for the "final" Miami Ass Party (Best of Miami's Best Party 2024 winner) to become a collector's item someday.

When it comes to photography, framing is arguably everything. Miami-based photographer Ian O'Connor is a master when it comes to placing his subjects in just the right spot before he captures the moment on film. His subjects are famously inanimate objects like colored paper, bouncing balls, or tree trunks. His works are not only visibly beautiful, but their power goes beyond what you see to make you feel something. Well-respected and well-known, you'll probably run into O'Connor at any given art opening around town supporting his community. One of his photographs from his "Transcend" series is up at Miami International Airport as part of its permanent collection.

Not everyone can pull off a Dope Tavio creation, but that's kind of the point. Created by designer Octavio Aguilar, the line juxtaposes the casual ease of streetwear with the complexity of the avant-garde. Filtered through an influential combination of '90s club kid and early hip-hop, Aguilar's genderless garments stun and elate. Worn by stylish divas like Erykah Badu and Janet Jackson and drag and burlesque performers Raja Gemini and Carmen Carrera, Dope Tavio is custom-made and one-of-a-kind. Aguilar earned a stamp of approval from legendary stylist and Sex and the City costume designer Patricia Field, who stocks Dope Tavio in her fashion-art hybrid ARTFashion Gallery in New York City. Featured at New York Fashion Week and in countless editorials for glossy magazines like Vogue and L'Officiel, Aguilar is a master of wearable art.

With the best art out of all the major fairs and the most enjoyable, laid-back atmosphere, NADA Miami was the place to be during Miami Art Week in 2023. The fair, run by the New York-based New Art Dealers Alliance, offers the best balance between high quality and reasonable prices — for those actually buying art — and its support of rising Miami galleries is also notable. This past year, KDR, homework, and PRIMARY all exhibited at the fair, while previous participants, Dále Zine, debuted their mini-truck mobile bookshop two years ago.

Moving her home-hosted gallery to a dedicated space on the growing art corridor of NW 22nd Street in Allapattah has only boosted Katia David Rosenthal's largesse as the most dominant dealer in town. The move made national news, securing her gallery as a "must-see" in Miami. Her slate of artists includes some of the most fun, funky, and buzzed-about in Miami, including Joel Gaitan, Susan Kim Alvarez, and Alejandro Piñeiro Bello, all of whom earned museum showings last year with art that impressed as much as it amused.

It may come as a shock, but South Florida's best museum is, in fact, not even in the Miami-Dade County. Between shows that explore important artists and movements like color-field painting ("Glory of the World") and ones that showcase the largesse of the region's local artists ("Future Past Perfect"), NSU Art Museum in downtown Fort Lauderdale shines. It offers the type of ambitious programming that other area institutions should strive for.

Though the Institute of Contemporary Art, Miami has come under fire for alleged censorship, it shouldn't dull the importance of what curator Gean Moreno does at this Design District museum. His thought-provoking shows shine a light on under-recognized artists of the Caribbean and African diaspora. He brought the colorful works of Grenada native and dub-reggae painter Denzil Forrester and politically minded 79-year-old conceptual artist Charles Gaines into the Miami to the local stage. He has also shepherded important books on artists like Carlos Alfonzo, Belkis Ayón, and Juan Francisco Elso and enriched the local arts scene through events and exhibitions as co-director of local press [NAME] Publications.

Have you ever picked up a book and thought to yourself, "Why hasn't this been done before?" Many Miamians will think just that when they see the bright orange cover of Ventanitas: A Window Into Miami's Coffee Culture. Oddly enough, author Daniela Perez was studying abroad in London when she was inspired to write a book on the unique culture surrounding coffee windows in Miami. The idea for a book was later picked up by Miami's poetry people, O, Miami, when photographer Gesi Schilling joined the project. Schilling ventured out, presumably cafecito in hand, to capture stunning portraits of the city's favorite ventanitas. Published earlier this year, Ventanitas is quite literally the perfect coffee table book about coffee.

Think Miami is a philistine, unlettered backwater town? Think again, friends. Miami's quarterly Islandia Journal proves otherwise. This unapologetically eccentric journal has a wealth of locally authored prose, poetry, and visual art that paints a lush picture of the myths behind this swamp and the ecology of the land itself. It's dedicated to the more esoteric side of Florida and the Caribbean — its untapped histories, legends, folklore, cryptozoology, and the paranormal. If you ask us, it's about time that the skunk ape and chupacabra got more love in print. Islandia's digital library has plenty of captivating ephemera, and following them on Instagram is a must for more archival weirdness.