The book binding, prints, and paper of guest artist Julie Leonard will be featured in an exhibit entitled “Solid Ground It’s Not,” which will open with a reception at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 4 in the Viterbo University Gallery.

“Making use of the book as an artistic medium is possible partly because of what we bring to the book, our collective connection with it,” Leonard said. “Since its inception, we have imbued books and writing with a spiritual or magical aspect that goes beyond its physical or contextual properties. Books can act on us as an icon, evoking a spiritual reaction, a contemplative psychic space. My work is divided between the study of historical book binding structures and the creation of contemporary artist books.”

Leonard is an associate professor at the University of Iowa’s Center for the Book. She earned a Master of Fine Arts in Studio Art and a graduate certificate from the University of Iowa.

The exhibit will run until Wednesday, April 1. Admission is free to the gallery, which is located on the third floor of the Fine Arts Center on campus. The gallery is open from 9 a.m.–5 p.m. when school is in session.