Guy Laliberte: Visionary

Cirque du Soleil founder Guy Laliberte - born on this day in 1959 - had a dream, and he followed it; what makes him a visionary isn't that he had the dream in the first place, but that he followed it at all...

Given how zealously the powers-that-be in all the arts guard access to their respective establishments, accomplishments like Laliberte's are certain to become increasingly rare in the coming years. Likewise, to a generation raised on being told yes - namely my own - the amount of rejection heaped on artists early in their careers as a matter of course is certain to dissuade untold numbers of budding young geniuses to take up bookkeeping to feed their bellies, and so to let their souls wither from malnourishment.

It is the most fervent wish of the Pop Culture Institute that new media will not be similarly overtaken by degree snobs and cultural bureaucrats, so that dreamers like Guy Laliberte can continue to inspire us all based on merit, rather than connections.
*