IF you've walked along the alleyway opposite Wrexham's Argos, close to the old fire station, over the last week or so, you might have made a double take.

There, housed within a void space where a brick used to be, is probably the world's smallest art gallery occupying an area of just 17.5cm x 11.5cm x 10cm. No wonder the students on Wrexham Glyndwr University's Art School on nearby Regent Street have called it 'The Hole in the Wall Gallery'.

"It's a hole in the wall where there was an air brick," explains Professor Alec Shepley, Dean of Faculty, Faculty of Arts, Science and Technology. "I'd been walking past it and commenting on it to colleagues and in the end we thought we should stop talking about it and we decided to do something about it."

In collaboration with creative arts consultancy, Addo, a project called Pilot Hole was conceived, involving seven artworks sited in the hole for 24 hours over a period of seven days, from 12 noon each day.

"The whole idea is to take art to the people and put it in their eyeline," continues Prof. Shepley. "Not in a confrontational way but to put it somewhere they might notice it.

"The other interesting thing is we've been telling people about it as they walk past and finding out what they think. Generally it's been very positive and some have smiled and told us 'Wrexham needs this kind of thing'."

With Wrexham Council facing constant criticism for the amount of empty units in the town centre and the threats posed to traditional high street shopping from the likes of Amazon and ebay, Prof Shepley feels 'pop up' projects like this are a small way of fighting back.

"There are many vacant and unused buildings in Wrexham that, when used for temporary cultural events, can serve as a welcome interruption to the seemingly forgotten units and empty spaces," he says. "My own position is I see art as an opportunity for engagement rather than just an opportunity to create beautiful objects - I've always been interested in artists like Kurt Schwitters who made collages out of found objects like bus tickets and art that has occupied spaces beyond the gallery. This project is an opportunity for students to directly experience how located practice foregrounds the need to interact with members of the public beyond the institution, say of a gallery or university, and explore how an atavistic creative practice in a variety of forms can contribute to the re-imagination of spaces and add to the cultural infrastructure of Wrexham."

Prof Shepley has been impressed with each artist's work, especially given the challenges they faced.

"I was worried about what I was going to get," he laughs. "But I've been really pleased with how they've responded and also how they've managed it - health and safety was a big worry but they've listened and taken care of all the curatorial aspects."

The academic is now hoping the project can become a regular fixture on Wrexham's streets and continue to put the town on the art map.

"The more I look the more holes I see," he adds. "Then I remember there are only 24 hours in a day but next year we want to invite every art student to have a slot in the Hole in the Wall Gallery."

"For me it's about bringing art into the public realm as well as highlighting the deterioration of the town centre," says art student Paul Heppell, as he hands out bunches of flowers to passers by. "I've walked around the town centre taking photographs of the empty shops and looked for repeated themes like the 'For Sale' signs you see.

"This is a way of putting art in people's faces rather than hanging it in a gallery where people haver a choice."