LEWISTON – A structure made of Styrofoam packing materials and a system that renders museum-goers’ images into sound are among the six artworks in “Activator,” a group exhibition of installations at the Bates College Museum of Art.

The show will open with a reception and artist gallery talks at 7 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 19, in the museum in Olin Arts Center, 75 Russell St. The exhibition runs through March 20.

“‘Activator’ is about the inherent ability of installation art to activate the architecture of a space, and the viewer within it, in a manner distinct from two-dimensional art,” said Liz Kelton Sheehan, who curated the show.

“The six installations embody this idea on a number of levels – formally, with color, scale and materials, and conceptually, with the artists’ attention to the viewer’s physical engagement with the work.”

Participating artists are Nate Aldrich and Zach Poff, Astrid Bowlby, Amy Stacey Curtis, Eric Hongisto, Nicola López and Jason Rogenes.

The artists will talk about their work in Room 104 of the art center at 7 p.m. on Jan. 11, Bowlby and López; Jan. 12, Hongisto, Aldrich and Poff; Jan. 18, Rogenes; and Feb. 2, Curtis. Sheehan, the museum’s assistant curator, will offer tours of “Activator” at noon Jan. 24 and March 14.

Admission to the museum and its activities is open to the public at no charge. For more information, phone (207) 786-6158 or visit the museum Web site at www.bates.edu/museum.xml.

The museum is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, and is closed Sundays, Mondays and major holidays.