By DAVID CRUZ

It’s been four years since Madaha Kinsey-Lamb, founder of Mind-Builders Creative Arts Center, has had to briefly say goodbye to the site that served as the after school program’s headquarters for decades.  These days, she’s settling back in.  The time away has paid off dramatically.

The after school program, aimed at unleashing the creative juices of young people for 37 years, recently relocated back to its original headquarters following a massive $10 million top-to-bottom renovation.  The work has reinvigorated the pre-existing space while revamping two formerly unused floors within the four-story building.  The program has now left its temporary home of St. Brendan’s School, hopping across the Bronx River Parkway to 3415 Olinville Ave., a former municipal building in Williamsbridge that teetered on ruin.

Kinsey-Lamb has doubled as an ad hoc tour guide of sorts, and perhaps the center’s biggest promoter lately, offering parents and students the chance to walk through the spacious interior.  A major promotional push is under way.

“Doesn’t it have a lot of character?” asked Kinsey-Lamb, showing off the space to a member of the Board of Directors who stopped by for a walk-through.

Inside, a lively mix of colors canvass the walls of each room from the basement to the fourth floors, a move intended to provide an atmosphere

that inspires the locals to de-stress.   The bright hues along the large multi-purpose classrooms are complemented by hardwood floors that shine and a teaching staff eager to refine a child’s talents.

At the lower level, an enormous lounge akin to a cafe bistro is set up, available to the public on weekends.  In the dance rooms, serving as multi-purpose rooms, instructor Debra Legano leads a class of rookie dancers as they plié.

“I teach every day of the week. Nowhere else do I get 34 teenagers, boys and girls, showing up every week to do ballet, it’s just so amazing,” said Legano, a certified ballet teacher.  

Kinsey-Lamb, a former schoolteacher seeking to fill the void of art classes that were lacking in the area, has raised the profile of Mind-Builders from the beginning.  The center is open to everyone, though the main demographic is children ages 6 to 16.  Students pay what Mind-Builders considers affordable tuition, though free classes are available, including a music ensemble program on Wednesdays that’s open to anyone capable of reading music.  At its core, the center serves as a confidence booster for underserved kids, a point Kinsey-Lamb stresses can help children in any career they pursue.

“The thing that makes us different is that commitment in how they’re taught and in that kind of relationship and experience where they learn to have responsibility to community, about working together, about having limitless potential in terms of what’s possible for you,” said Kinsey-Lamb.

Indeed, Mind-Builders serves as a creative hub for thousands of Bronxites since 1978, offering the chance for folks to learn ballet, act, draw, or play an instrument.  Kinsey-Lamb often relies heavily on “Mind-Builders,” or experts of the arts, to allow students to harness their talents.

And even as Kinsey-Lamb re-settles into the building that’s complete, she still has visions that can draw more students to join the organization.  On top of paging through the list of possible donors, Kinsey-Lamb is also considering more activities for the children, including a radio station lab.  Her mind is constantly working, even as she pores through the possibilities for the kids and for other institutions that would consider renting available space.  But whatever renovations or additions Kinsey-Lamb institutes, she still is keeping to the mission she set out to do since 1978.

“This is an opportunity to succeed. This is an opportunity to see yourself capable in another way,” she said.