Marvin Cook
Owner of Marvin Anton Cook Fine Art in Wilson, North Carolina
Steeped in the inspiration of rural North Carolina, Marvin Cook’s landscapes invite the viewer to pause and absorb a transient moment in nature — to feel the weather gathering along the shoreline or sunlight warming a stand of trees.
Even though Marvin Anton Cook Fine Art is a startup creative business, it’s been brewing inside him for decades. Marvin has wandered these woods and created art since childhood, and his small business is the natural culmination of both. His goal is to make art that’s emotionally and environmentally resonant. By offering more affordable fine art prints, apparel, and home goods alongside his original pieces — works in oil, gouache, ink, and acrylic — he’s keeping his work accessible, too.
A $10,675 DreamSpring loan helped bring that vision into sharper focus. The funding went toward equipment and art supplies, working capital to productize his art, and the purchase of a vehicle to transport it all. Buoyed by funding and business-building resources, Marvin is turning his passion for painting nature into a viable business.