Wednesday's Art Notes

_The "STREB Extreme Action Company":http://www.streb.org/V2/company/index.html performs at the groundbreaking for the Whitney Museum's new building on Gansevoort Street on May 24, 2011 in New York City. Photo by Ben Hider/ WireImage_ The New York Times' ArtsBeat "has more":http://artsbeat.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/24/whitney-breaks-ground-for-new-building/ on the groundbreaking. * Oprah Winfrey ends her 25 year old daily television talk show on Wednesday. The Chicago Sun-Times "writes up a preview":http://www.suntimes.com/entertainment/wiser/5585963-417/oprah-doesnt-give-out-cars-just-reflection-on-last-show.html of the final episode. ARTINFO "counts the ways":http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/37742/oprah-as-muse-five-unexpected-ways-that-the-talk-show-legend-impacted-art/ Oprah has inspired contemporary artists. The Boston Globe "considers":http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/ideas/brainiac/2011/05/farewell_to_opr.html the impact of her Book Club on American literacy and publishing. We'll have more on the Oprah finale tonight on the NewsHour. * Parliament-Funkadelic's Mothership has landed in the permanent collection of the Smithsonian, via "The Washington Post":http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/smithsonian-acquires-parliament-funkadelic-mothership/2011/05/18/AFHMvj6G_story.html. * A new Norwegian study finds that people who participate in art or cultural events have lower rates of stress and greater personal satisfaction, via "Discovery":http://news.discovery.com/human/culture-happiness-art-110524.html#mkcpgn=rssnws1. The scientists found that the effect was more profound in men who were spectators and women who were actively engaged in creative pursuits. * Author Gary Shteyngart will have the honor of having a pig named after his book, "Super Sad True Love Story," as the recipient of Britain's Everyman Wodehouse Prize for comic fiction, via "The Telegraph":http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/hay-festival/8533048/Hay-Festival-2011-Gary-Shteyngart-wins-Wodehouse-Prize-for-comic-fiction.html. * Dick Wimmer, a writer who tried doggedly tried for 25 years to have his novel published, receiving more than 150 rejections before finally being published in 1989, has died at the age of 74 in California, via "The New York Times":http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/25/arts/dick-wimmer-74-irish-wine-author-is-dead.html.