Introduction. Today, Russian culture has received the status of a national priority. Attention to culture, the emergence of regulatory documents in this area can be identified as a new stage of cultural construction in our state. Theoretical analysis. The response to the sociocultural environment of the post-industrial information society, which transmits individual values, has increased public attention to the traditions and history of the Fatherland – to everything that constitutes the concept of “collective memory”. Due to the potential of emotional impact on a person, art can intensify the process of integrating individual memory into collective memory. Empirical analysis. The images and events of the Great Patriotic War are captured in works of various types of art using specific means of artistic expression. The mass and academic artistic creation of 1941–1945 unites several generations of compatriots, and the presence in it of the personal attitude of its creators to the events of that time makes the process of joining individual memory to collective memory significant. Conclusion. During the new stage of cultural construction in the Russian state, it is important for the professional community to realize the mission of art in the common cause of preserving collective socio-historical memory and to help shift the focus of youth from self-expression in creativity to creating art that is interesting to people.