It is with great honor to receive the Jutta Cuny-Franz Memorial Award - offered once every two years as support for artists in their use of glass.

The Jutta Cuny-Franz Memorial Award was founded by Ruth-Maria Franz (1910–2008) to keep the memory of her daughter and artist Jutta Cuny (1940–1983).

Jutta Cuny was one of the most distinguished protagonists of European glass sculpture from the mid-1970s to her early tragic, accidental death. Shaped by sand-blasting from solid glass blocks, her sculptures opened new paths into glass art. Her cubic, polished blocks gained shape through their complex, matted interior. Jutta Cuny found transparent glass to be her favoured material, which she contrasted with others, such as bronze, or porcelain.

Through a number of generous gifts and the bequest of Ruth-Maria Franz, the Glasmuseum Hentrich today owns the artistic legacy of Jutta Cuny, including five major and a number of smaller works of art. It is thus the largest collection of her work in a public institution.

Ruth-Maria Franz established the Jutta Cuny-Franz Foundation in Vienna in 1984. By her request, the seat of the foundation was transferred in 1994 to the city of Dusseldorf. The foundation’s tasks are being managed by the Glasmuseum Hentrich, Kunstpalast.