the Capitol Area Architectural Planning Board and the Minnesota Historical Society were entrusted to approve design, structural composition and location of all works of art. Interior Governors Reception Room The Governors Reception Room, arguably the most elaborately decorated in the building, is a ceremonial room, designed for state receptions, proclamations, and press conferences. Gilbert designed the elaborately decorated room, which was inspired by his earlier vacation in Europe, on the lines of a Venetian Council Chamber, with stained white oak woodwork and heavy molding gilded with gold leaf framing historical paintings. The room's ornate look was partly a response to Minnesotans' suggestions for pictures from their own history. Originally Gilbert had planned for the room to be much more modest. "The executive rooms should be finished in perfectly plain color without elaborate decoration of any kind," Gilbert wrote in a 1903 letter to the Board. Responding to popular demand, the Board of State Capitol Commissioners authorized six paintings by four nationally known artists. Gilbert prepared plans for a more ornate room to accommodate paintings of historical subject matter, which were originally considered for the lunettes over the grand stair halls. In 1968 the red drapes and leather furnishings were replaced with gold velvet curtains and modern armchairs covered in mustard yellow upholstery. With a space shortage in the Capitol, Governor LeVander decided the room should be converted to office use and closed off to the public. There was strong public objection to this temporary solution. Legislators and civic leaders worked to dissuade LeVander, and kept the Reception Room open to visitors. This controversy helped facilitate the recognition for the historic preservation and restoration of many Capitol spaces in the 1970s. In 1978, when farmers converged on the Capitol to protest powerline construction on their farms, the message "we want a moratorium on powerlines" was carved into one of the antique tables after several hundred protesters crowded into the Reception Room. Decorations and symbols One of several signature features of the Capitol is the brass and translucent glass eight-pointed star symbolizing Minnesota's motto, "L'Étoile du Nord" (The Star of the North), which is set in a circle on the floor of the rotunda below the central dome. The star motif is then repeated in the marble floor of the rotunda with the points of the star using red Numidian marble from the Nile River. The star's glass floor provides natural light