Instead of pursuing a traditional education, Young choose an artistic education under local artist James T. Harwood. He worked at the Salt Lake Tribune as an engraver and saved up his money so he could attend the Art Students League of New York from 1899 to 1901. He returned to Salt Lake City for financial reasons and began working for the Salt Lake Herald. Once he saved enough money he traveled to Paris, France where he studied at the Académie Julian. While in France he decided to focus on sculpture, although his watercolor paintings were also acclaimed.

Returning to the United States he spent most of his life in New York City. Young created Native American statues for the American Museum of Natural History and submitted artwork for 20th Century Fox studios. During the depression he taught for the Art Students League. He liked to portray life in a realistic fashion. He completed a series of bronze sculptures of boxers and often focused on farmers, machinists, blacksmiths and other workers.

In 1950 he sculpted a statue of his grandfather, Brigham Young. This statue resides in the National Statuary Hall Collection in the United States Capitol.

Dorothy was the only one of Weir’s daughters who actually studied art under the direction of her father. “I think she shows a great deal of ability,” he wrote as early as 1911, when she began her studies at the National Academy of Design. She worked in oils and watercolors and did woodblock prints as well.