Barbara K. Jackson, who has devoted much of her life to supporting the arts in Sacramento and the region, has been named the area's outstanding philanthropist of the year. The Davis resident is being honored at a National Philanthropy Awards luncheon tomorrow (Nov. 14) in Sacramento.

"Barbara Jackson richly deserves this award," said Larry Vanderhoef, UC Davis chancellor. "She has generously backed the arts on this campus and in the region for many, many years, and we are all deeply indebted to her."

The award luncheon is sponsored by the California Capital Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals, which represents 25,000 members in 163 chapters throughout the United States, Canada and Mexico. The California chapter serves some 150 area fund-raising professionals. National Philanthropy Day was first celebrated in 1986 to recognize Americans throughout the country for their generous support of the non-profit community.

In addition to Jackson, the local chapter is honoring Sabra Sanchez for her volunteer leadership on behalf of children; Katherine Keeney, executive director of the Sutter Hospitals Foundation, as the area's outstanding fund-raising executive; and Pacific Coast Building Products and Wells Fargo as the year's outstanding corporate grant-makers.

Jackson was one of the first volunteers to enlist in a capital campaign to build a new performing arts center on the UC Davis campus. Until wine maker Robert Mondavi and his wife, Margrit, donated $10 million to the center this fall, Jackson's $5 million contribution to the project was the largest single gift ever from an individual for the performing arts in the region.

The 1,800-seat main hall of the Robert and Margrit Mondavi Center for the Performing Arts will be named in honor of Jackson and her late husband, W. Turrentine Jackson, a UC Davis history professor.

Jackson's commitment to theater, music and dance in the region dates back more than 45 years, when she first volunteered to sew and design costumes for a number of performing arts groups in Sacramento and Davis. For 11 years, she created costumes for Sacramento Opera productions.

Marianne Oaks, founder and former general director of the Sacramento Opera, gives Jackson much of the credit for helping launch the opera company.

"I truly could not have founded the opera without her help and support," Oaks said. "Barbara will always be known as someone who loves the arts in general -- and opera in particular -- and who is not afraid to roll up her sleeves to get it done."

At a construction site ceremony in March held to celebrate placement of the final steel beam on the new UC Davis performing arts center, Jackson explained that her contribution to the project stemmed from the many good experiences she has had with the arts in her life.

"The arts have always given me great joy and inspiration, and the new center will give many others that same joy for years to come, " Jackson said. "I can think of no better investment in the future of this region than the arts."

In addition to her gift to the Mondavi Center, Jackson has given UC Davis an endowed professorship in orchestral conducting, an endowed chair in western U.S. history, a scholarship fund, and a graduate fellowship in history. Her most recent contribution to UC Davis is establishing a second endowed faculty chair in the music department, this one in choral conducting.

Jackson is an active volunteer and supporter of the Sacramento Opera, the Sacramento Ballet, the UC Davis Symphony, and numerous other music and theater groups in the region. She is a member of the Sutter Davis Hospital Auxiliary and the University Farm Circle, and she currently serves as a trustee of the UC Davis Foundation.