Custom widget area fo reach category

Hello,

I'm looking for a solution for the following:

I'd like to add a custom graphic (clickable) to the top center column of each category page (there are just 4).

I figure I will have to create a template page for each category, but is there a way to add a unique widget area to the top of each page - or is this not the best way to handle this?

I apologize, but I have never really worked with template pages before and don't really understand their capabilities and how they integrate with atahualpa.

I am using Ata: 3.53 and WP 3.0.5

I will be very thankful for any help here and the more simply you can put it the better. I feel like there must be a relatively simple solution for this.