The Art Institute of Chicago is home to paintings, sculptures and textiles created centuries ago by artists whose names are preserved in history books. Visitors gather to admire their works, taking pictures and studying the meanings behind them.

For Urban Sketchers Chicago’s Thursday night group, the art comes to life as sketchers scatter around the museum, looking for a perfect spot to draw.

“When I’m here, I don’t have to think about anything,” said Robert Cordero, leader of the group. Some choose to sketch sculptures or paintings. Some draw one another in the museum setting.

Urban Sketchers Chicago is part of a global nonprofit organization that encourages its members to capture what they see at various locations across the city through drawings. Journalist and illustrator Gabriel Campanario created the organization in 2007 in Seattle, and it grew from there.

The Chicago Thursday nights group, led and organized by volunteer Cordero, is one of many groups that meet on different days as part of Urban Sketchers Chicago.

Cordero encourages the group to wander around the museums to find their own inspiration. Each sketcher has a different equipment: pens, markers and pencils.

Sketcher Vivek Rao chose the sculpture “Samson and the Lion” for his muse during the most recent Thursday night session on Feb. 5. “I wanted to get the marble texture,” he said, noting that he wanted to sketch something made from a natural substance.

“Anybody can come. You don’t have to have any experience,” Cordero said, sketching in front of students from architecture classes he teaches as a professor at Harold Washington College.

Regardless of differences in ability and walks of life everyone in the group has one thing in common: a wish to sketch.

“To me, the mission is to capture a scene one sketch at a time and tell the story through that sketch,” Cordero said.

Though limited to the museum setting, the group changes their location every week, always near downtown Chicago. One place they find themselves is at The Art Institute since it’s part of the museum tour of the Thursday nights program.

Jerry Mikutis, a Chicago-based yoga teacher who attended the Feb. 5 session, described sketching as “meditation de-stressing.”

“I am an introvert, and I always wanted to do ‘social art,’” Mikutis said, adding that sitting next to a fellow artist and discussing their work is like “a parallel play.” Mikutis likes the concept of the group setting, having someone to talk to about her art.

In the group setting, Rao said he feels peaceful, not pressured by the number of people who attend. He recently moved to Chicago from Boston and feels like Chicago is a better city for artists who want to sketch. “The buildings are so pretty,” he said.

After sketching for two hours, the group gathers for their “throw down” in front of the museum’s Pritzker Galleries. They put their sketches on the ground and examine each other’s work. Sketchers compliment one another and tell the story behind their art. They will gather again in a week, once again bonding over their love of sketching.

For those who are unavailable to sketch on Thursday nights, Urban Sketchers Chicago offers other options. There are also groups in the suburbs, all led by volunteers.

Cordero said he someday hopes to have an exhibit for his Thursday group’s work.

“It’s about growth,” he said. “It’s a judgement-free zone.”

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