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My favorite topic of conversation with people who relocate to Atlanta is to find out how they make sense of it. This is not an easy task in a city that pretty much moves around the clock and offers a cornucopia of things to do to keep you entertained and informed. With time though, newcomers gradually build their own experience of Atlanta through the places in the city where they live, work, and play. Some people fall in love with it forever, some for a while, and some can never get used to it.

Look closely during the next two weeks, and you’ll see Atlanta becoming a much more colorful and interesting place. Artists are taking over downtown, tackling social issues through unique creations. This year’s ELEVATE Public Art Festival is taking place from October 13 through October 21, with a series of free events open to the public.

This year’s ELEVATE public art festival will feature work by some of Atlanta’s most interesting and thought-provoking artists. The annual block party will take place on Friday from 6 – 11 p.m. Adding international flavor to the festival, France-Atlanta is partnering with the City of Atlanta Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs to bring in some special guests.

The consulate general of France in Atlanta and the Georgia Institute of Technology Oct. 11 announced they will co-present the seventh annual France-Atlanta, a series of French-American events centered on innovation, Oct. 12 through 21 in Atlanta.

Un événement majeur vient de se tenir à Atlanta, superbement organisé par le Consulat Français de la ville et Cartooning for Peace. Trois journées de débats publics que je viens de passer aux côtés de Plantu et de Mike Luckovich, le cartooniste de l’Atlanta Journal Constitution.

Armed with a pencil, Michel Kichka has influenced political thought all over the world. One of Israel’s most popular political cartoonists and caricaturists, Kichka has received the Chevalier Des Arts Et Des Lettres from the French Culture Ministry and serves as the head of the Israeli Cartoonists Guild. An editorial cartoonist for Israeli and French TV networks, Kichka crosses cultural barriers with his criticism to expose the humanity in political issues.

Late in September, the City of Atlanta revealed four young companies — two from Atlanta and two from France — selected for a startup exchange with its sister city of Toulouse next month. Atlanta-based Carbice Nanotechnologies Inc., and Partpic Inc. will spend two weeks in Toulouse meeting with counterparts in their sectors and attending the EmTech 2016 conference. High-level executives for each company will work at the Airbus BizLab and the CapGemini Lab’innovation.

Political and editorial cartoons have long been a way to illustrate newsworthy current events in a way that’s effective, succinct, and poignant. On October 13, a curated selection of acclaimed international editorial cartoonists will convene at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights as part of the event Cartooning for Peace: The Art of Democracy. Hosted by France-Atlanta 2016 along with the National Center for Civil and Human Rights, the Atlanta Press Club, the Mayor’s Office of Cultural Affairs, and Cartooning for Peace, the event will feature a panel discussion and cartoon demo surrounding democracy and free speech.

France-Atlanta 2016 got off to an unexpectedly hip hop-start the evening of Oct. 4 as the Atlanta Falcons Drumline warmed up on a particularly balmy evening for a separate event at the College Football Hall of Fame across Marietta Street from the Metro Atlanta Chamber where the launch event was held.