Business owners and artisans participating in a Somerset Street festival greeted the public cheerfully despite a gloomy looking Saturday afternoon.

Chinatown Remixed is a month-long, open door event beginning May 8 that blends business and art. Artists are invited to display their work, whatever it may be, at local businesses.

The first example of the mix is highlighted by resident performer, China Doll, who roamed Somerset Street and invited patrons to witness his transformation.

Large photographs are displayed at the Shanghai (his family owns the restaurant) that document a two-hour span where he changes from Ed Kwan, head chef, to charmingly outrageous karaoke queen China Doll.

At Café Orient, his brother, Don Kwan, has his photos displayed. Kwan is the main event coordinator.

The inspiration for the event comes in response to cutbacks to art and culture funding. “This is to show that art and beauty does affect the business climate,” said Kwan, “and this is such a wonderful community, just dying to be beautified.”

This is the second year for the festival. “Last year I had so much on my brain so much organizing, a lot of unknowns, and applying for grants,”  he said.

Last year saw 27 businesses and 37 artists take part in the festival. This year, there are 40 businesses and 51 artists participating. This figure does not include street performers, and does little justice to the 130 artist submissions. Having limited room to accommodate talent, only 15 artists from last year were chosen.

Most are residents of Chinatown, and Kwan noted that “this year, a lot of people submitted art that reflects the neighbourhood.”

Puppeteer Grant Harding, accompanied by two of his many puppet creations, entertained throughout the afternoon. “I live just up the street, but most of these businesses I have never been to,” he said.

Meanwhile, strobe lights flashed as a new twitter message arrived at Oriental Charm, 653 Somerset St.

The gift shop is hosting Andrew and Deborah O’Malley’s acrylic and LED light creations. Running for the whole month, twitter messages to the tag #ctrm will be archived to cycle on the scrolling marquee between random images and fresh ‘tweets.'

The husband-and-wife team built the boxes, which are similar to the lights they sell online at Etsy.com.

“We made all the circuits, spent tonnes of time coding, and testing, which took a lot of time -- it was only debugged Wednesday night,” said Andrew. And it seemed to draw a great response—many people stopped to tweet live from their cell phones.

Mika Silhanek, 26, is a newcomer to the event. The owner of Twist of Fate gift shop, she opened in mid-December, and is hosting artisan Suzi Silhanek, her mother, who creates custom lamps with hand painted and mixed media shades.

An artisan herself, Silhanek offers handmade jewellery, clothing, beadwork, and many other items. The rest of her wares are imported gifts.

“I travel a lot to China, Italy, all over," she said. "So when something strikes me as different I bring it back. Anything I see that is neat and unique, I bring it home with me.” The resident cat, Sophie, winds around the counter as Silhanek serves a stream of customers.

She is very pleased with the opportunity to participate in the open-door event, and said, “The city is still discovering me so, Chinatown Remixed, the people in and out; it’s wonderful!”

Photographer Tom Evans is also participating this year, and among his images are the popular Redshirt photos. These images feature several people posing with one of two red plaid, mackinaw-style shirts. Professional Barber Shop is his actual barber and host business for the duration of the event.

Although he was unavailable to participate last year, Evans said, with a grin, that it “does not seem that the rain has stopped anyone” this year.

More red fabric was being worn down the street in front of Man Phong Supermarket at 775 Somerset St.

Natalie Fournier, 24, sewed non-stop for two hours to create a mixed-media dress that is fashioned over a metal framework called a bustle. To the delight of visitors, the female-oriented performance artist sewed the dress around herself while she wore it. The fabric was made up of many items of red clothing from her mother’s basement, except the lacy underwear that she bought for the show.

“I am really happy to see children today since I usually perform for adults, at private parties, and at night,” said Fornier with a smile while she held the dress on for photographs. “Feedback from kids is just amazing.”

Chinatown Remixed will be running at most businesses until June 8, so anyone that missed the opening exhibits can still take part. More information is available at participating locations and ottawachinatown.ca