This interview with Sharece Johnson was conducted at Wendy McDaris Gallery in Hudson, NY on June 15, 2015. Sharece moved to Hudson from Queens, NY at age eight. She works with Hudson Promise Neighborhoods (part of Americorps), and is a student at SUNY Albany. She is also a lyrical soprano. In this interview, she discusses growing up in Hudson, the city’s creative spirit, her own experiences as a classical singer and actress, and mentoring children and teenagers.
I was born in Iowa in 1988, went to elementary school in Madison, WI, and finished growing up in Richmond, VA. I work as a strategist and UX researcher, and am interested in oral history as a different way to explore who people are and why they do what they do.
Oral history is an iterative process. In keeping with oral history values of anti-fixity, interviewees will have an opportunity to add, annotate and reflect upon their lives and interviews in perpetuity. Talking back to the archive is a form of “shared authority.”