One of my friends has a job producing and procuring art for a large company here in Cary. Gorgeous paintings with plaques line the hallways every few steps. I know these rotate, because that is her job.
On the other hand, many paintings I see come through voting are just decoration. Any furniture commercial or sitcom will have art in the background like this.
The clarification says:
I think you are correct not to accept “every random painting in every office building” unless they convince you of permanence at that location. I feel that significance to the location can help with that. In my mind, paintings in a hallway seem more like individual tables in a picnic area or disc golf holes along a course.