Former Yass Valley Councillor and Tootsie Café owner, Cayla Pothan… “I hope in the future, when people are in the room, for whatever reason, they are looking at something a bit joyful.”
Cayla Pothan is a go-getter.
The former Yass Valley Councillor and café owner may have been sighted around the Yass Hospital with a bucket of paint and a paintbrush as she works a mural on the dreary brick walls opposite the palliative care rooms. Her work (entirely free) is purely for the purpose of creating joy in an otherwise sombre scenario.
“It all started from a conversation three years ago when [a friend] spent time in the hospice rooms with her husband,” says Cayla.
“Staring out at red brick walls, she said it was really depressing and said, ‘someone like you could paint a mural on them’.”
From here, Cayla spoke to the Hospital Auxiliary with her idea, who were immediately on board with the proposal.
It would take three years of pitching from the Hospital Auxiliary to Southern Tablelands Health to agree and allow Cayla to attack the challenge ahead.
Three palliative care rooms overlook the plain red brick wall, unable to see the surrounding garden. It was that garden that provided inspiration for Cayla’s work.
As the mural will be painted on brick, undercoating was required before any further work could be undertaken.
“The flowers would just get lost in the brick,” says Cayla.
“The Hospital Aux raised money through fundraising for the undercoating.
“It’s now a dark burgundy.”
Three years since her initial proposal to the Hospital, she is now racing against the clock to finish the mural in time before winter stops her in her tracks.
Using solarguard paint, the mural is subject to good weather conditions and is at risk of not drying in wet or cold periods. Although Cayla says she hopes to get the work finished before winter, the looming deadline has certainly been a stain on her otherwise exciting progress.
Taking inspiration from the signature white roses within the gardens that were planted several years ago, pink roses (another feature from the garden) will also be speckled throughout.
Cayla’s café, Tootsie, has donated all of the paint used on the mural, and she says she was pleasantly surprised when she rocked up for her first day of painting to find not only the first wall undercoated, but several surrounding ones.
“They’ve undercoated the wall opposite the rooms, but they’ve also included the spaces where the nurses sit in the garden on their breaks and where they prepare the food,” she says.
“It was much bigger than I had initially thought.”
Over Easter, Cayla spent eight hours with a paintbrush, painstakingly outlining and re-doing a blue vine that spread across the top of the wall. Although it may not seem like much, the paint needs at least two coats each to reach the right amount of vibrancy required. The bricks have proved a formidable force.
“I realised that it was going to take a long time to finish it,” she says.
“There was still a lot of background to do, such as flowers and leaves.”
Rather than letting this deter her, she reached out to a local art group within Yass with a simple question: Would anyone be keen in helping her bring a little bit of colour to the hospital walls?
By Monday, 27 April, eight local artists showed up, each tackling an element on the wall.
Online, Cayla commended the women and said, “I talk often about community – about the courage it takes to ask for help when you’re out of your depth – and today, it answered beautifully. Together, we’ve begun transforming those walls into something softer, brighter, more human. A space not just for patients, but for the people who care for them too.”
The finished, stylised mural will be focused around big, bold colours, and Cayla says she hopes they will bring a small bit of joy to those who see it.
“It’s a beautiful project and I’m honoured to be a part of it,” she says.
“I hope in the future, when people are in the room, for whatever reason, they are looking at something a bit joyful.”
Cayla continues to chip away at the project, but has been thwarted by the recent rain. Now, she’s waiting for a sunny day to continue working.
“Even half done, it looks better than before,” she says.
Where she gets the time to work on the mural and run her successful business is beyond most, but she says she’s truly honoured and grateful to work on something like this for the community.
Support for Cayla’s mural is boundless, and she says several people have approached her about helping. Although she’s currently at capacity for painters, she says she’d love to extend this project to incorporate other murals within the community, such as the Yass bus stops – something she had painstakingly fought for as a Councillor.
“It’s a hopeful project for the future,” she says.
“There are more areas in Yass that could use some more love and colour.”
For now, she spends every spare moment she can with her paints, hopeful to finish it before the cold snap forces her to shut down for the season.
“It’s all thanks to the Hospital Aux,” she says.
“They did all the hard work to get us to this stage.”
Cayla has already received positive feedback from nurses who say they are happy to see the bright colours as they walk past for a coffee.
“It’s truly an amazing project and it’s great to see it come full circle,” she says.
“I love our community and I love giving back to the community.”
Even when things seemed overwhelming, Cayla says she couldn’t be more thankful to see the kindness, generosity and enthusiasm from those around her.
“When I needed it, help turned up,” she says.
“I’m so grateful for them.”
Cayla says she will continue to bring more light and colour to the world, aware that it’s the simple things in life that may ease the strain from families who find themselves in overwhelming or solemn situations.
To view her progress, or for more updates, please visit Cayla’s Facebook page.
Elizabeth Kovacs
The South West Slopes Times covers an area approximately the size of Fiji in country NSW. We look after a population of more than 50,000 people with our staff servicing 7 major towns and dozens of villages with our story telling footprint.
We offer weekly print editions at $3 a copy and we also offer digital subscriptions across 3 months $30, 6 months $60 and 12 months $120.
We are one of the last truly local independent family run newspaper businesses in the state.
Contact us today to find out how we can promote your business or organisation across our huge network by emailing ads@thetimes.net.au or by calling 0413 763 216.
If you have a news tip, lead or scoop for us please make contact as we love celebrating our communities. You can contribute articles via our South West Slopes Times website.