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Reno

We knew we were taking a bit of a gamble, my wife and I, making a visit to Reno that wasn't centered on A) casinos or B) a speedy end to our marriage.

Still, we had heard of efforts to transform the Biggest Little City in the World from a gambling and quickie-divorce mecca into a more urbane center of arts and outdoor adventure.

As Cynthia and I saw last month, not only has the snazzy new $16-million Nevada Museum of Art opened barely four blocks from the heart of Reno's casino district, but a full calendar of concerts and festivals each summer is another part of the payoff for visitors not glued to the roulette wheel.

This year's arts and entertainment choices include performances by Mikhail Baryshnikov (weeks ahead of when he'll do the same program at UCLA), a jazz concert by saxophonist Branford Marsalis, a two-day Celtic festival and a show by Louisiana's renowned Savoy-Doucet Cajun Band.

Not bad for a fledgling arts scene.

Through Sept. 21, the Museum of Art has works by muralist Diego Rivera and other contemporary Mexican artists in an exhibition that was so popular in Seattle, some visitors there had to be turned away. Another exhibit explores the Paris output of American painter Edward Hopper in a substantial collection of 45 canvases.

We braved the height of summer swelter to check it all out.

Despite talk of a new promenade of shops and cafes along the Truckee River, we really didn't see many signs of a face-lift downtown after flying in Friday. We spotted a few signs touting art events and one banner at the Celtic festival promoting the city's artown.org Web site. But the casinos weren't going out of their way to hype the new museum or the Marsalis gig over their own Vegas-type floor shows.

That set up a low-key tension between the Reno of old, represented by the National Bowling Stadium, and the would-be cosmopolitan one, as symbolized by the Nevada Museum of Art, the 74-year-old institution that reopened in its new home in May.

The museum itself is a striking piece of modern architecture by Will Bruder, whose models of the building and other projects are featured in one of nine galleries constituting 13,500 square feet of exhibition space.

The museum's fourth floor is mostly given over to the Jacques and Natasha Gelman Collection of contemporary Mexican art. It encompasses not only mid-20th century works by Rivera, Rufino Tamayo, David Alfaro Siqueiros and José Clemente Orozco, but also some newer, provocative works, such as Miguel Calderón's photos of a crazed-looking man pointing a gun at the head of a dog or into the mouth of a roaring tiger.

The museum might fit into the Getty Center's parking structure, but its artistic spirit is certainly willing.

Another element of Reno's slow evolution is the Siena Hotel Spa Casino, touted as the city's first full-fledged spa hotel. The $70-million, 2-year-old facility has 185 rooms and 29 suites, with half of the units overlooking the modest yet scenic Truckee River, which cuts through town.

With an auto club discount, we got a standard room for about $100 a night. It was decorated in soft earth tones, with attractive maple-finish furniture that, though not exactly luxurious, was as comfortable as we could have expected at this price. One downside was the air conditioner, whose vents were directly under heavy drapes that blocked early morning light, forcing us to choose between a cool room or a dark one.