Renowned Wagga artist Arthur Wicks created the window installation that wraps around the front of a vacant Baylis Street store, displaying a collage of real estate photographs of the past 40 years.

As a wide-cross section of the community brainstorm new solutions for its struggling city centre, Eastern Riverina Arts executive director Scott Howie said artists and creative minds could play a big role in luring people to the CBD by activating the stores that stand vacant.

"There is a lot of space at the moment available and artists are always looking for space to exhibit," he said.

"The last thing we want to do is walk down the street and look into empty spaces."

Eastern Riverina Arts spearheaded a proposal in October this year that plans to fill vacant shops on Baylis, Fitzmaurice and intersecting streets with a number of creative industries, retail businesses or gallery spaces.

Mr Howie said the group hopes to get one property up-and-running before the end of the year.

"If landlords, property owners and real estate agents think about how they could open up their spaces to be used ... because they are just sitting there, costing money at the moment," he said.

"The model shows quite often that once you put somebody in the space in the short-term, they often become leased quickly because they realise the potential."

Mr Wicks' artwork titled The Real Estate Project captured signs advertising a cross-section of real estate agents and their contact details during the 1970s.

He said he catalogued the photographs while witnessing the loss of native forest growth to urban development.

"For me these trees, with real estate signs attached to them, became poignant omens of things to come," Mr Wicks said. "The trees that once advertised properties for sale, were lost to the homes of the future."

Wagga City Council's community director Janice Summerhayes said art installations like The Real Estate Project have the potential to activate the CBD and enhance its visual appeal.

Ms Summerhayes said the project was supported by the council during its annual grants program, where Mr Wicks received $4000. She said those with a creative idea could apply for the next round, which opens on March 16 next year.