The author of the only monument in the regional capital to the Soviet director, actor, writer and screenwriter Vasily Shukshin was the amateur sculptor Nikolai Zvonkov. In tandem with professional colleagues Vasily Rublev, Mikhail Kulgachev and Sergei Bozhenko, in 1.5 years he prepared the monument for casting from brass. The details of the monument were cast for almost two months at the Transmash plant.

The assembly of the monument was completed in the summer of 1989. For the 60th anniversary of the writer, the sculpture by Zvonkov was installed in the center of the square on the street named after Vasily Makarovich. Later, a granite pedestal appeared at the monument, and since 2012 the square has also been named after a famous countryman. The Shukshin Readings are opened there every year.

The monument is included in the All-Russian catalog of sculptural works. 10 years later, Sergei Bozhenko published his version of the history of its creation - the book "Knockin 'on the conscience, or How it was in Barnaul."

“The monument created by Altai sculptors ... is very good. It fully reflects the character of Makarych - a strong, mournful, restless person, with early wrinkles on his forehead, with eyes piercing the spaces of life and history ”, - Alexander Segen, Russian writer, screenwriter.

Photo: Valery Stepanyuk.