Teen Face: Art, activism go hand in hand for Santa RosaHigh student

It’s not easy to stand out in a family with an overachieving older sister and parents who own an award-winning boutique winery. But Sunce Franicevic has carved out a niche for herself through her art and activism.

Franicevic, 16, co-founded a group at Santa Rosa High School called Students United for Restorative Justice, which advocates for programs that give troubled students a way to atone for their transgressions rather than being slapped with suspensions or expulsions. Franicevic spoke out about the issue in front of the Santa Rosa City Council last year.

“We need this in schools. It would change students’ lives,” the Santa Rosa teen said. “It’s really important to me to know that kids are not alone, that they won’t be pushed aside if they get into trouble.”

Named after her family-owned Sunce Winery (the name means “sun” in Croatian), Franicevic is equally as passionate about her art as she is her activism. A talented spoken-word artist, writer and filmmaker, she is on track to graduate a year early from Santa Rosa High’s ArtQuest program. A film she made about restorative justice was recently screened at the Project Youth View Film Festival in Oakland.

“If I didn’t have art in my day, I wouldn’t be able to get through it,” she said. “I’ve always wanted to create art. I want to change the world, and I feel the way to do it is through art.”

Franicevic’s busy school schedule keeps her on campus from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. most days with a junior college political science class on Wednesday evenings. With two drama classes, video production and concert choir, she gets her daily fill of creative arts. When she has a rare bit of free time, she enjoys hanging out with friends, writing and going to the beach.

She is also on the school debate team, runs track and she helps out around the family winery. Her mother, Janae Franicevic, said she works hard like her older sister, Zora, who graduated from the ArtQuest program with a 4.4 GPA and now attends UC Berkeley.

“She’s kind of been in the shadow of her sister, but she’s really come into her own,” Janae Franicevic said. “She’s impressive in her own right and has a talent for writing and film.”

Next year, Franicevic may follow her sister to Berkeley, but she is also considering drama programs at UCLA and USC. Or she may just travel the world.

When she was 12, she spent a semester living with her paternal grandmother in a small fishing village in Croatia, an experience that she said changed her life.

“I want to go everywhere,” she said. “If you don’t travel, you can’t fully understand who you are.”

You can reach Staff Writer Matt Brown at 521-5206 or matt.brown@pressdemocrat.com.