In Praise of Small Cities: Cultural Life in Kamloops, BC

This article demonstrates how cultural participation contributes to collective understanding in a small city, using Kamloops, British Columbia, as a case study. It examines how pools of social and cultural capital give purpose and shape to the arts and heritage community and considers two related variables: the geographical and social proximity of people, organizations, and neighbourhoods, and the recognition that various kinds of collaboration may determine or constitute collective activity. The article addresses these factors by initially identifying several arts and heritage activities and by focusing on choral societies to further demonstrate how individual interests and collective understanding converge in specific forms of cultural expression. The article concludes by recommending several directions for comparative urban research based on the contours of cultural life in a small city. This article features online ( http://www.cjc-online.ca ) photographs of cultural works.