On Thursday, June 14, from 11 a.m. to noon the COC is teaming up with the Art Gallery of Ontario to co-host #ArtHour, an hour-long online discussion about cross-disciplinary collaboration. We hope you’ll join in! 

This spring, artist Zhang Huan — who has worked primarily in the visual arts — came to Toronto for the launch of three projects: the North American premiere of his production of Semele by the COC; the unveiling of his large sculpture Rising, in front of Shangri-La Toronto; and an exhibition at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Ash Paintings and Memory Doors. His foray into the opera world with Semele is a prime example of the cross-disciplinary collaboration that tweeters will discuss during this #ArtHour. Have other good examples to share? Leave a comment below and add it to the conversation on June 14. 

During #ArtHour, we will ask six questions related to the topic, with the aim of generating a great discussion with you and other art-loving tweeters:

1. Which art forms are most likely to benefit from involvement by people outside the discipline? The least likely?
   
   
2. Is there any kind of artistic expertise that does not translate to other mediums?
   
   
3. Can you think of a cross-disciplinary collaboration that you thought worked particularly well?
   
   
4. What is the biggest challenge facing artists collaborating with people in other disciplines?
   
   
5. Does above-average ability in one discipline make someone more likely to succeed in any creative endeavour?
   
   
6. Do you think critics are kinder to artists working outside their usual discipline or harsher?

The person who contributes the most to the conversation will win two pairs of tickets to see an upcoming COC production and general admission tickets to visit the Art Gallery of Ontario!

HOW TO TAKE PART:

What: #ArtHour is a Twitter chat with a new art topic each month. We invite you to spend one hour each month thinking about and sharing what art really means to you. 

When: Thursday, June 14, 11 a.m. – noon EDT (#ArtHour takes place the second Thursday of every month).

Where: On Twitter. Follow @canadianopera and @agotoronto for more information, or search for the hashtag #ArtHour. You can follow along using Tweetchat by using the #ArtHour hashtag. 

Who: #ArtHour is for everyone: galleries and museums, arts professionals, artists and anyone interested in learning more and meeting other passionate art fans. 

How: Starting at 11 a.m. @agotoronto and @canadianopera will be tweeting a question every 10 minutes using the hashtag #ArtHour. Anyone can respond, also using the hashtag #ArtHour. 

For example, we would tweet "Q1: What is your favourite opera? #ArtHour", and you could tweet back "A1: Verdi's Il Trovatore! #ArtHour."

We hope that you’ll help spread the word and join us for this great online event. For more information about #ArtHour please e-mail [email protected].