Phoenix is fortunate to have so many fine museums clustered in its Downtown and Midtown neighborhoods. Museums draw people to the city's core, educate its people, improve its quality of life, and enhance the experience of out-of-town visitors to Phoenix. Nevertheless, there's one big problem with our local museums from the perspective of urban vitality: their big, blank walls.

In part, blank walls are unavoidable. There are few major museums in any city with large numbers of windows. That's understandable because museums need to use every available square inch of wall space to display their contents. In addition, the natural light that is a positive element in an office or home creates difficulties in a museum. You wouldn't want outside light ruining the planetarium experience at the Arizona Science Center or damaging delicate works of art at the Phoenix Art Museum.

Blank walls don't have to be beige walls, however. The problem with some of our local museums is that huge windowless walls are painted uniformly in one drab color. The worst offenders are the two otherwise outstanding institutions mentioned above: The Arizona Science Center and the Phoenix Art Museum. Both are wonderful inside but hideously dull on the outside.

Since both are private institutions, the City does not have direct authority here, but the Office of Arts and Culture can play a role. The City can make bond funds and other forms of municipal assistance contingent upon efforts to enliven the outside of these buildings. Likewise, the City could coordinate efforts to identity local muralists to enliven the moribund exteriors of these buildings.

In recent years, there has been a surge in creative mural-making all over Phoenix. For the most part, the effort has been concentrated on the walls of small buildings. Let's take this to the next level. Imagine colorful murals outside PAM and the Science Center, ideally linked to the exhibits inside. Now's the time add some color to our culture.