Back in the 1920s, Nebraska’s capital had a marketing slogan: “Lincoln — A City Worthy of a Noble Name.” Today, that motto seems to hold up perhaps more than ever, especially in the creative-meets-collegiate downtown in this tidy metropolis of 280,364 residents, which is home to the University of Nebraska and a growing immigrant population (now nearly nine percent of city dwellers ). The increasingly buzzy downtown is luring visitors with recently-opened shops and watering holes. And, be sure not to miss the 1932 Art Deco capitol building, with its mosaics by muralist Hildreth Meiere and 14th-floor views of the Great Plains.

Sheldon Museum of Art

This Philip Johnson-designed jewel box of a building was built of travertine marble with gold leaf ceiling details in Italy, then meticulously reconstructed at the University of Nebraska in 1963. Among the museum’s more than 12,000 art holdings: Edward Hopper’s “Room in New York” and Georgia O’Keeffe’s effervescent “New York, Night” which captured her view of Lexington Avenue from her residence in the Shelton Hotel in 1929.

12th and R Streets, University of Nebraska; sheldonartmuseum.org