By Cyrus Guccione
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Despite spending 40 years working as a graphic artist, illustrator, mural artist and decorative painter, Fountain Hills resident Vanessa Davisson says she is still trying to figure out what she wants to be when she grows up.

Spending her youth in Poughkeepsie, N.Y., Davisson was surrounded by art and music. Her father Vincent Russo, M.D., was a sculptor and her mother Verina (Vera) Russo was a violinist who played first chair for the Hudson Valley Philharmonic.

“I came home one day from school and the Dave Brubeck Quartet was in my kitchen,” Davisson recalled, whose mother would invite guest artists into her home for a meal and to relax before concert time. “I came home once from grade school and there was a 16th-century harpsichord in our living room…stuff like that would happen just being one of my mother’s children.”

Vanessa Davisson has done several butterfly designs since the inception of Flutter at the Fountain. (Submitted photo)

In 1980, Davisson’s family relocated from New York to Fountain Hills to establish themselves in a community of friendly faces.

Davisson and her siblings, Rina, Val and Ginny and Vincent Jr. all found ways to contribute to the community in one way or another. Many times, they worked together.

Vanessa’s sister Val Stasik, who founded the Fountain Hills Theater nearly four decades ago, commissioned Davisson to be her in-house set designer and scenic artist.

From “Lil’ Abner” to “The Sound of Music,” Davisson painted over 70 Fountain Hills productions. She branched out and began working with The Phoenix Theatre Company and Herberger Theater, painting and repainting over 100 theatrical productions over 20 years.

Davisson’s late father enjoyed sculpting along with her brother. One of Vincent Sr.’s pieces entitled, “Brothers,” is found in Town Hall and one of Vincent Jr.’s sculptures, “Mirth and Melancholy,” can be viewed outside the main entrance to the Community Center.

Davisson’s sister Rina Creta is her personal tax advisor (“I can’t get away with nothing,” says Davisson) while her sister and the Mayor of Fountain Hills Ginny Dickey is an accomplished pianist and performer in several AriZoni-winning productions at the Fountain Hills Theater.

“We all got here in 1980, and we all contributed to the community in every way we possibly could,” Davisson said.

An oil painting by Davisson entitled “Superstition Trail.” (Submitted photo)

Community-minded artist

As a former member of the Fountain Hills Community Foundation, Davisson has worked closely with Flutter at the Fountain, painting butterfly designs since its first year and now roadrunners in its fourth year.

Her murals and decorative art are found in over 40 Fountain Hills and FireRock homes. She has taught as a substitute teacher at FHUSD and is a guest speaker for advanced art history learners.

Davisson is also the artist behind the Chamber of Commerce cartoon maps of Fountain Hills.

Beginning in 1994, Davisson hand-draws the map every five to six years as a marketing piece for local businesses in the community.

Using sheets of vellum with a pencil and colored markers, Davisson says every map takes anywhere from 80 to 100 hours to complete.

The hardest part of the cartoon maps, Davisson says, is driving around town, making sure the buildings look the same as they did five years ago.

“As the town changes, people think of them now as little historical things,” she said.

Davisson painted a “Friends” themed mural for an Airbnb in Phoenix. (Submitted photo)

Painting large, decorative fresco paintings in homes led Davisson to research Italian Renaissance artists and their work. In 2009, Davisson obtained her Masters in Art History from ASU in Italian Renaissance Painting. In the process, she has visited Italy five times, her most recent visit as an artist in residence in Tuscany.

Davisson says her time abroad has allowed her the headspace to expand her capabilities in art and find new meaning in what she has spent her lifetime doing.

Last year, Vanessa Davisson was an artist in residence at Borgo Santo Pietro, an internationally acclaimed resort in Tuscany, Italy. (Submitted …

After relocating to Fountain Hills, Davisson’s mother Vera Russo became the concertmaster for the Scottsdale Symphony. After she passed, Davisson and her family set up a foundation for visiting artists at the symphony in Vera’s name.

Davisson now hosts visiting artists at her home, much like her mother did when she was just a little girl.

“You want to stay open to the best people that are out there,” she said. “They will enrich our life if we give them a chance.”

As she looks back on her four decades in Fountain Hills, Davisson remembers the decision her parents made to follow their dream to start a new life in Fountain Hills.

“They came out here, they spotted a piece of property on Greenbriar Lane, they popped a bottle of champagne, built on it and our family is all here now,” Davisson said. “When you move to a place and you love it, you give of yourself to that place, and I can honestly say that every member of my family has done that.”

We invite our readers to submit their civil comments on this issue. Email AZOpinions@iniusa.org. Cyrus Guccione can be reached at cguccione@iniusa.org.