In the Arts: Acting Getty Museum Director Steps Down

David Bomford, the acting director of the J. Paul Getty Museum, is stepping down, according to The New York Times.

Mr. Bomford is returning to his native England to pursue research, scholarship, and writing, the Los Angeles museum announced Tuesday. James Cuno, the recently installed president and CEO of the trust, will assume the directorship temporarily while the museum searches for a new head.

The museum has lacked a permanent director since January 2010, when Michael Brand left the post over differences with then-Getty Trust CEO James N. Wood. Mr. Wood died in June 2010.

In other arts news:

• Anthony Amato, who founded and ran a tiny Lower East Side opera company that was a mainstay of New York’s cultural life for six decades, died of cancer Tuesday at the age of 91, reports The New York Times.

A native Italian who emigrated with his family at age 7, Mr. Amato founded the Amato Opera in 1948 with his late wife, Sally, and built it into one of the most popular of the city’s semiprofessional opera companies, attracting a devoted audience with critically praised productions and low ticket prices.

He served as Amato’s artistic director until he disbanded the organization in 2009 and earlier this year published a memoir, The Smallest Grand Opera in the World.

• The Newport, R.I., City Council signed off Wednesday on a controversial public-park redesign to honor preservationist Doris Duke, the Associated Press reports.

The design by Vietnam Veterans Memorial architect Maya Lin had divided Newport, with many in the well-heeled seaside city contending Lin’s minimalist approach clashed with the historic town’s colonial and Victorian character.