History Colorado says a new exhibition tracing the messy, construction-paper origins of South Park will open December 6 at the Colorado History Museum in downtown Denver. The show, called South Park: Handmade in Colorado, promises original artwork, scripts, props, costumes and puppets pulled from the show's archives, alongside material tied to creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone's wider body of work.
According to History Colorado, the exhibition spans projects well beyond the animated series itself, touching on The Book of Mormon, Team America: World Police, Parker and Stone's Red Rocks concerts, and the restoration of Casa Bonita. The institution's announcement describes the show as featuring “original artwork, scripts, props, costumes, puppets, and never-before-seen items from the South Park archives,” according to the exhibition's official page.
Among the specific items on display, per the same source, are original construction-paper cutouts used to build South Park's very first pilot episode, plus original sketches and scripts used to create the South Park TV series, as well as costumes and props connected to The Book of Mormon. Visitors will also find puppets from the Team America film and props tied to the South Park 25th anniversary concert, which took place at Red Rocks Amphitheatre in 2022, per The Denver Post.
A Colorado Story From the Start
The exhibit leans hard into the Colorado roots of the whole South Park enterprise. Parker and Stone are Colorado natives who met while attending film school at the University of Colorado in Boulder, the Post reports, and the museum's framing places their creative partnership squarely within the state's own cultural history rather than treating it as an import from Hollywood.
The show also marks a moment of broader momentum for the franchise. History Colorado's announcement notes that South Park now airs in more than 130 countries and has earned six Primetime Emmy Awards and a Peabody Award, and that it was the number one show on cable in 2025 among viewers aged 18 to 49. The series premiered in 1997 and is currently airing its 29th season under the title South America, the Post notes, with new episodes airing select Wednesdays on Comedy Central and streaming the next day on Paramount+.
Timing, Tickets and What's Included
Timed entry is required for South Park: Handmade in Colorado, and exhibit attendees must reserve a specific time slot to enter, according to the Post's reporting. Admission to the exhibition is included with general admission to the Colorado History Museum, which the Post reports costs $20, though $50 tickets are also available that allow entry at any time during a visit without a reserved slot. History Colorado's own announcement adds that admission is always free for its members and for children 18 and younger.
The exhibition is slated to run through October 3, 2027, per the Post, giving it a lifespan that overlaps with South Park's 30th anniversary in August 2027 — a milestone History Colorado's announcement highlights directly.
Moments the Museum Is Preserving
Beyond the pilot-era ephemera, the exhibit folds in some of the stranger chapters of Parker and Stone's career. The Post notes that the two wore dresses to the 2000 Oscars while high on acid, a stunt that's become part of South Park lore well beyond the show itself. The Book of Mormon, meanwhile, is celebrating its 15th anniversary on Broadway, another anniversary the exhibit's timing happens to brush up against.
Concept art, original scripts, production storyboards and character designs round out the collection, according to the Post, giving fans a look at how a show built on cutout animation evolved into a multimedia empire spanning television, concert stages, Broadway and a reopened Lakewood institution in Casa Bonita.
