Have Goals Milwaukee

Have Goals. It’s amazing how this simple, complete sentence could have such an impact on an individual. This Milwaukee street art movement was introduced to the Selfless/PhilARThropy team not too long ago and caught our attention because of this hopeful reminder they strived to get across. Sticker bombing is another creative form of visual expression. Although considered illegal, it has grown into a popular trend for artists to share their thoughts, another way of guerrilla advertisement, and in the case of Have Goals – a form of enlightenment.

When a piece of art not only captures your attention, but also challenges your way of thinking – that’s when you know it has done its job. The next step is left to the viewer in deciding between taking it as is and continue walking their daily route or to really and truly apply those words to their own life.

This is the kind of street art that deserves to have a spotlight - it’s art making an impact.

Personally, this message arrived at the perfect time and served as a friendly reminder for me to keep striving to do big things and to keep building my personal ‘art bucket list.’ Whether a list of goals is something that could be accomplished in a day or in a couple of years – it’s important to ‘have goals’ in order to maintain the motivation to continue doing something for oneself.

Meeting the man behind Have Goals was an experience in itself – revolutionary, thought-provoking and all-around astonishing. We left Milwaukee in awe from the conversations that stirred on and off the camera. Within four hours, we got to know a once complete stranger who has risen from rock bottom and now finds happiness in spreading these Have Goals stickers daily with the sole mission to inspire others.

Witnessing the thoughtful placements of these stickers around Milwaukee was also an interesting experience. As funny as this may sound, it was like watching a silent film. We became oblivious to all the bikers shooting by and the noisy conversations of passerby’s as we watched him gingerly placing the stickers onto street poles, newspaper stands, etc. and observing the town to plot out where his next location would be. He was at ease, and it came so effortlessly to him. It was like he memorized the city and every spot the HG sticker was already placed. After walking around downtown for awhile, we started seeing the HG stickers everywhere – that simple face and message really does embed in your brain quickly. It’s like they say, “less is more” – and this single minimalist piece of artwork says a whole lot.

After meeting with Have Goals, it definitely served as a reminder to us that there are so many untold stories out there that we still have yet to find. I think I can safely say for the rest of the Selfless team that we each brought a piece of his story back to Chicago with gratitude. One of our Selfless goals is to find the stories and share it with everybody – we hope that this one has sparked some inspiration in you that it’s never too late to Have Goals and go after them. Here are a few photos from our trip:

The next ‘goal’ Have Goals hopes to achieve is a great one as they are calling out to other artists nationwide to help with their endeavor to raise money in order to fund youth art programs. You can view more details below:

I created this sticker a few years ago and have made it my business to put it up all over Wisconsin. It’s all about encouraging people with a simple short message – “Have Goals.” I started noticing people were taking pictures of the sticker and talking about it online. Then a Facebook group popped up and things really got interesting. The sticker seems to attract the most interesting people and I have really enjoyed the dialogues and friendships it has opened to me. 
- Have Goals
Calling all artists! Join in collaboration with Have Goals on a project to benefit Milwaukee youth organizations.

The project is a “remix” of the Have Goals image. We’re asking artists to take the image and reinterpret it in their own style what Have Goals means to them. It could be anything: painting, photo, digital work, redraw, print, or something else entirely.

The end result will be an art book titled “Have Goals Milwaukee” which will be created to raise funds for Milwaukee youth programs. The book will include attribution for the artists who participate.

If you are interested in participating, please send your image to haveg0als@yahoo.com. 

Protip: Don’t name your image “havegoals.jpg.” Provide your name, the title of your image, and how you would like to be listed. Final work should emailed as a JPG or TIFF and share the same aspect ratio (height to width) as the sticker. No sexualized images or profanity please. Have Goals alone decides on the appropriateness of the images or text for inclusion.

Many of the details are still being worked out. Currently this is planned as a self-published project but if you are or know of a local publisher who is interested in helping, please speak up. Thank you!