https://www.austinchronicle.com/daily/arts/2013-04-15/the-qa-hole-what-color-would-you-change-the-sky-to/

The Q&A Hole: What Color Would You Change the Sky To?

By Wayne Alan Brenner, April 15, 2013, 2:43pm, All Over Creation

Permanently, we mean.

And as opposed to its frequent lovely blue default.

We threw the question at a few people for this latest in our ongoing Q&A Hole series, and these are their responses:

Mical Trejo, Actor: I'd coat it with a reflective mirror paint so that we could look up and see how stupid we are sometimes.

Nate Southard, Author: I'd have to go with purple. That way we'd all know Prince is in charge.

Katherine Catmull, Author: The sky is so many shades of blue and gray and white, though. But some various shades of rose could be nice, from super pale sort of eggshell pink to a nice deep red-violet when night was coming. And bloody red for storms.

Mark Love of Mark Love Furniture: Weird, I had this exact thought two days ago. I decided on orange, because any other color would eff with my head.

Dave Buckman, Improviser: A sunrise-y mix of hot oranges, pinks, yellows and blues. My wife's family has a beach house in Topsail, NC. When we're there we wake up at 6am (on a vacation, no less!) to see this majestic organic improvised spectacle of warmth and happiness and promise. That would be pretty sweet all the time.

Adreon Henry, Artist: I think a nice amber sky would really brighten things up.

Peter-John Byrnes, Comedian: Where I live – Chicago – isn't prone to "frequent" lovely blue skies; for much of the cold parts of the year we're more likely to have gray-white skies, as we have today as I look out my window. And although I often think of these skies as particularly unlovely, our way of assuring that we will better appreciate the blue skies when they finally arrive, if I had to pick one permanent color to change the sky to, it would be this harsh, bleak color. Because gray-white skies don't lie to you, and don't allow the people who live underneath to blunt the truth with flattering light. No wrinkle goes unnoticed under the gray-white sky, and every unpainted fence is shown in harsh relief. I think gray-white skies prevent self-delusion, but still allow one to retain optimism, because there's the hope of the blue skies to come.

Paul Normandin of Texas Department of State Health Services: A pink rich with warmth and love like a bunny's nose.

Kristin Hogan, Artist: There was a really cool RadioLab I listened to, about how no one knew the sky was blue, because they thought of it as a void? But – maybe purple. Lavender or purple, because I like purple. But if it changed suddenly, people would freak out, like it was the apocalypse: "The sky's purple! Ah, nooooooo!"

Jennymarie Jemison of FS77: It would be cool if the sky was like a mood ring, reflecting the energy of the life in the area. Tranquil colors would let you know all was well, and if the sky turns blood red above you, you know you need to get the hell out. Nature would be considered in this equation, so corporate environmental fuckery would be written in the skies. Clean coal would have to reckon with a powerful visual rebuttal. Clouds would suddenly have a voice! This whole scenario sounds more and more terrifying.