The Colorado History Museum is opening a new exhibition tracing the origins of South Park and its place in history on December 6. South Park: Handmade in Colorado tells the story of the show and its creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone, bringing together behind-the-scenes items like concept art, original scripts, production storyboards, character design, and more.
Celebrating its 30th anniversary in August 2027, South Park began with two friends at CU Boulder’s film school creating movies inspired by the people and places around them. Over the course of their careers, they developed a distinctive brand of humor and storytelling that has taken them from Colorado to Hollywood to Broadway and back home to Red Rocks and Casa Bonita.
Comedy Central’s South Park now airs in more than 130 countries and has earned six Primetime Emmy Awards, a Peabody Award, and induction into the Television Academy Hall of Fame. The show’s nearly 350 episodes serve as a time capsule cataloging a wide range of issues and events in popular culture and the news over the past three decades.
To create South Park: Handmade in Colorado, History Colorado partnered with South Park Digital Studios, offering exclusive access to the studio’s extensive archives. Through first-hand accounts and never-before-shown items, the exhibition delves deep into Parker and Stone’s inspirations and creative endeavors from South Park to The Book of Mormon, Team America: World Police, their Red Rocks concerts, and the restoration of the iconic Casa Bonita.
Some highlights of the exhibition include:
- Original construction paper cutouts used to make South Park‘s pilot
- Original sketches, scripts, and art used to create the TV series
- A movie script, show bible, world premiere tickets and paper cutouts from South Park: Bigger, Longer & Uncut
- Puppets from Team America: World Police
- Dresses Parker and Stone wore to the 2000 Academy Awards
- Artwork, costumes, and props from South Park’s 25th Anniversary Red Rocks concerts
- Costumes and props from The Book of Mormon
- Vintage merchandise
- Photo opps
South Park: Handmade in Colorado opens on December 6, 2026 at the award-winning Colorado History Museum. The exhibition is included with general admission tickets available online for pre-purchase. Timed entry to South Park: Handmade in Colorado is required. Admission is always free for History Colorado members and children 18 and younger. History Colorado members are invited to see the exhibition first on December 5, 2026. The Colorado History Museum is open daily from 10 am – 5 pm.