Paradigm Talent Agency Creates $50,000 Scholarship Fund at Columbia College Chicago

News Office Staff / Jun 11, 2019

Photograph of Chip Hooper.Chip Hooper. Photo courtesy of Patrick Jordan.
Grant establishes the Chip Hooper Scholarship in memory of the late Paradigm executive and music industry legend.

CHICAGO (June 11, 2019) — Paradigm Talent Agency has chosen Columbia College Chicago as the recipient of a $50,000 donation to create an endowed scholarship fund for the School of Fine and Performing Arts in memory of Chip Hooper, the agency’s longtime Head of Music who passed away in 2016.
 
Hooper represented touring acts including Dave Matthews Band and Phish, and in his leadership capacity, he oversaw a worldwide roster of more than 2,000 artists at Paradigm. He was a fixture on Billboard’s annual Power 100 list, and an eight-time winner of Pollstar’s Bobby Brooks / Agent of the Year Award. Hooper was also an accomplished artist, whose photographic works were published in books and hung in galleries all over the world.
 
“Chip Hooper was one of the most extraordinary people I’ve ever known, and his dedication to art and artists was unparalleled,” said Paradigm CEO and Chairman Sam Gores. “We are proud to sustain his spirit of nurturing the next generation of creative professionals.”
 
The gift includes matching funds from individual Paradigm executives which allows the scholarship to begin awarding as soon as this fall.
 
Paradigm chose to establish the Chip Hooper Scholarship at Columbia to support the college’s internationally renowned programs in Hooper's areas of passion — music business and photography. In addition to Columbia’s programs, the college has established strong connections to Paradigm though dozens of internships and careers for Columbia graduates at Paradigm offices throughout the country. Hooper was also a Chicago native himself.
 
“Columbia is grateful to Paradigm Talent Agency for this gift to create a new endowed scholarship for our students, many of whom will walk in Chip Hooper’s footsteps someday as music industry professionals and working artists,” said Rosita Sands, Interim Dean of the School of Fine and Performing Arts at Columbia. “The Chip Hooper Scholarship represents a new opportunity for students to truly turn their passions into careers.”
 
The scholarship is open to students within Columbia’s School of Fine and Performing Arts, which includes both Music Business and Photography majors, as well as Art and Art History, Dance, Design, Fashion Studies, Music, and Theatre.
 
Chip Hooper’s children, Max and Valerie Hooper, said in a joint statement, “We are very excited to see our father's impact continue to support the pursuit of future generations' dreams. We hope that this scholarship will help more young people pursue their passions in the music business and fine arts.”

The scholarship is open for immediate application with a deadline of July 1, 2019. To support the Chip Hooper Scholarship, and for more information on the award, please visit the official Chip Hooper Scholarship website.


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Columbia College Chicago is a private, nonprofit college offering a distinctive curriculum that blends creative and media arts, liberal arts, and business for nearly 7,000 students in more than 100 undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Dedicated to academic excellence and long-term career success, Columbia College Chicago creates a dynamic, challenging, and collaborative space for students who experience the world through a creative lens. For more information, visit www.colum.edu.
 
Paradigm Talent Agency provides global representation to a diverse and dynamic roster of artists and content creators in television, live music, motion pictures, theatre, digital, book publishing, content finance, and brand partnerships. While known for discovering and developing culturally significant artists, it's our 30-year track record of cultivating lucrative and creatively fulfilling careers for the artists we represent that sets our agency apart. Paradigm's team, located in the U.S., Canada and Europe, are disciplined, passionate and focused on generating opportunities that matter to Paradigm's clients and partners, while never, ever losing sight of the unique creative visions of the artists and creators we represent. For the art. For the artist.

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