Let's not beat around the bush — Mike Cugno isn't your typical sports anchor. As CBS Miami's lead sports anchor and host of multiple local shows, he looks as if he could suit up for just about any team in town. His energy for the local teams is infectious, and his delivery is down-to-earth with a tone that keeps you returning for more. Whether he's covering a Miami Dolphins preseason game or appearing on the 560 WQAM Hochman and Crowder show to give the play-by-play of trying a McDonald's McRib for the first time, Cugno has grown up in our living rooms, on our airwaves, and now, seems to be in his prime with decades left in the tank. We wouldn't be surprised if, in 30 years, we're writing something similar, gushing about how the best sports anchor in town is still outworking the competition and looking frustratingly handsome doing it.

She's covered big-time weather events in Denver, Tennessee, and West Virginia. And, since 2022, boy, we're glad to have Chelsea Ambriz giving us the scoop here in Miami. From looming South Florida hurricane threats to that wild once-in-a-millennium storm that pummeled Fort Lauderdale last year, Ambriz keeps it as real as it gets alongside her NBC 6 First Alert Weather colleagues. Part of that realness is her Midwestern charm and passion for the South Florida community. She hails from Indianapolis and, locally, is an active member of the Junior League of Miami, regularly volunteering with a women's shelter, food rescue organization, and more. A big-time local foodie, event-goer, and proud cat mom, she's also a blast to follow on Instagram. A perfect storm led Ambriz to Miami, and we're glad those winds carried her here.

Third Cinema, the '60s-'70s political film movement out of Latin America and Africa, decried neocolonialism and capitalism and aimed to revolutionize film. Third Horizon Film Festival channels that ethos with a focus on the future and an eye on the islands. Celebrating its seventh year, the organization highlights the rich and vibrant cinematic arts of the Caribbean and its diaspora. It uses film to speak truth to power and disrupt norms that simply just do not work for everyone. It's a big idea, and each year its filmmakers and crews bring it to life with screenings, discussions, and special events that spotlight some of the world's most fascinating films. Third Horizon uses and enhances Miami's position as a global gateway to reach its audiences, sparking conversations around cinema, community, and culture as it celebrates and empowers filmmakers — and Miami's creatives.

Public art brings culture to everyone, and it brings people together. Germane Barnes' Ukhamba, an installation outside of the Miami Dade College Wolfson Campus, accomplishes both things. Ukhamba asks Miami not just to look but to sit and stay with each other. The architect and designer worked on the piece as part of a commission by the Museum of Art and Design's (MOAD) second-annual MOAD Pavilions series and was first unveiled ahead of last year's Miami Book Fair International. The 32-foot-wide, ten-foot-tall structure resembles a large woven basket and was inspired by Barnes' time living in Cape Town, South Africa. In a recent Miami New Times interview, Barnes said, "All the work that I do is always about inviting people and always about communal spaces."

Just as street artists have been graffiti-bombing abandoned skyscrapers in Los Angeles, Miami had its own derelict real estate turned into a canvas during Miami Art Week last year. Reportedly led by Atomik, famous for his smiling orange character, dozens of artists drew tags on the soon-to-be-demolished Vitas Healthcare building at One Bayfront Plaza. Unlike in L.A., where police have used helicopters to deter the taggers, stakeholders in Miami have celebrated the artists for turning an eyesore into a monument to the city's street art culture. WLRN's Colette Gaiter called them "major milestones" and the building's owner even offered to sell the tagged artwork to the Museum of Graffiti. Say what you will about this city, but it certainly loves its intentional or unintentional public art.

How would you decorate a skate park in the middle of the Everglades? Probably with a mural featuring incredibly precious, humorous depictions of local animals like Florida panthers and gators on skateboards and roller skates in tropical shades of green, right? Well, that's exactly what poet, artist, and activist Houston R. Cypress, prolific Miami artist Brian Butler, and a group of Miccosukee youths conceived of and created at Trail Skate Park. While the mural is new, the park was launched in 2020 at the Miccosukee government headquarters community center. Cypress, who is from the Otter Clan of the Miccosukee Tribe of Indians, spearheaded the project with support from artist-run presenting organization Bas Fisher Invitational and nonprofit Love the Everglades Movement. What resulted is a whimsical place for locals to shred and marvel at how creativity is so key to building community. Feel it for yourself. Trail Skate Park is open to the public on Saturdays and Sundays, sunup to sundown.

Lush with iridescent, Fauvist color schemes and fluidic technique, Alejandro Piñeiro Bello's paintings practically drip off the canvas. You can almost feel the humidity and pressure as you pick out the surreal, mythical motifs hidden within. The Cuban-born artist had an exceptional 2023, debuting work at NSU Art Museum, KDR Gallery, and the Rubell Museum, where two of his monumental canvases currently hang.

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.