The emcee was a man in a blue-sequined full-body leotard and bunny ears calling himself Scott the Blue Bunny.

The entertainment included artist Edisa Weeks giving willing guests "hairstyles for the playful at heart," and burlesque star Julie Atlas Muz, the Coney Island Circus Sideshow, and Big Dance Theater.

And dinner, at Café Un Deux Trois, was steak frites.

At this "carnival" on Monday to benefit the New York Foundation for the Arts, everything seemed larger than life, everything except the honoree herself.

Penelope Dannenberg stood out for her staidness. She wore a blouse without sequins and a simple bob. But what Ms. Dannenberg was honored for — 25 years as program director for the foundation, presiding over more than $24 million in grants to 3,700 artists — is a story full of color, daring, and imagination.

There was a filmmaker named Spike Lee, not yet famous when he received a grant in 1985. There was a playwright named Tony Kushner, whose 1987 grant was the first time his work was officially recognized. Ms. Dannenberg said she had read far too many proposals to remember her favorite.

"I have the best job," Ms. Dannenberg said, "until June 3." That's the date she retires. And what are her future plans? "I want to learn how to make lace, how to fly-fish, and how to play the African drums."

The co-founder of nonprofit arts organization chashama, Anita Durst, organized the event, which raised $115,000, with help from foundation board members Judith Brodsky, Mark Golden, and Meg Louis, and the foundation's president, Kathleen O'Grady.

agordon@nysun.com