Darcy Meeker's latest project should be really, really weird.

At least, that's the hope of the artist as she prepares to paint downtown Blacksburg's shops, restaurants and people in an ethereal collage of colored light tonight.

The three-hour event begins at 7 p.m., an hour when the sun's light is typically replaced by the gentle glow of street lights and the Downtown Merchants of Blacksburg gear up to kick off the monthly Wonderful First Wednesdays event.

Except this time, nine street lights dotting Main Street -- from College Avenue to Roanoke Street -- will be covered in something Meeker calls "theater gel," a cellophane-like material used by theater companies that comes in shades of purple, orange, blue, cyan, red, green, magenta and yellow. Two sides of the three-sided street lights will be wrapped in different colors.

Meeker, a full-time Blacksburg sculptor and former science writer, got the idea for the project several months ago, when she was pondering a way to help Chapel Hill, N.C., with a downtown renovation project.

Although people in Chapel Hill weren't sold on her idea, Blacksburg Town Manager Mark Verniel was.

Verniel suggested that she work with the Downtown Merchants of Blacksburg and the Virginia Tech Electric Service, the company from which the town rents its downtown street lights, Meeker said.

All three organizations came together to sponsor tonight's event.

"I'm hoping everybody will be happy and have a lot of fun," Meeker said.